How ETH is supporting a new engineering programme in Ukraine
ETH is helping the Kyiv School of Economics to establish a new electrical engineering programme, despite the war. The project’s initiator, Maksym Yarema, explains why every month counts.??
“The country is?in the midst of?a war, with much of its infrastructure destroyed and engineers needed to rebuild it.”Maksym Yarema
Maksym Yarema, how did this collaboration come about?
Yarema: In January 2024, I spoke with Tymofiy Mylovanov, President of the Kyiv School of Economics. We ended up discussing how engineering studies in Ukraine are less developed than programmes in other disciplines, such as the natural and social sciences. It’s particularly a problem now because the country is in the midst of a war, with much of its infrastructure destroyed and engineers needed to rebuild it. At the same time, a lot of skilled workers have left the country. The idea of establishing a master's programme in Kyiv soon gained widespread support: in March 2024, it was the subject of an international conference on the reconstruction of Ukraine, which was also attended by Federal Councillor Guy Parmelin and representatives of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA).
About
Maksym Yarema is an adjunct professor in the Department of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering, where he leads the Chemistry and Materials Design group. Born in Ukraine, Yarema studied chemistry is Lviv and received his doctorate from Johannes Kepler University Linz. Yarema’s research focuses on the chemistry of solid bodies and the development of colloidal nanomaterials – tiny, dispersible particles in the nanometre range. These materials are used in applications including batteries, memory cells and optoelectronic components, such as imaging sensors and solar cells.
How exactly does ETH support the university in Kyiv?
We drew up the curriculum together. ETH primarily supports the university in Kyiv by enabling Ukrainian students to access electrical engineering courses at ETH via recordings and livestreams. The Kyiv School of Economics appointed local tutors who also complete the courses in advance, work in tandem with ETH teaching staff and contribute a local perspective.
What does this tandem teaching look like?
The tutors in Ukraine engage with the ETH teaching staff on an ongoing basis, working in pairs so that they can learn to teach the courses themselves in the future. Many of the teaching staff in the Department of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering at ETH answered my request straight away; they were hugely supportive.
To what extent does this Master’s programme contribute to Ukraine’s national defence?
Our programme doesn’t serve military purposes. Instead, students engage with civil applications of electrical engineering, including in the energy sector, in communication networks and in cybersecurity. There are technical overlaps, of course, but neither the teaching nor the topics of the master’s theses have links to the military. There are also clear legal provisions to this effect. We submitted the programme to the in-house export control team at ETH before it started. Military applications and research transfers are not permitted.
Why was the Kyiv School of Economics chosen rather than a technical university?
In a situation like the one in Ukraine, in which every month counts, this private institution was able to act faster than a public university. We launched the project in January 2024, presented it in April, signed the Memorandum of Understanding in June – and teaching started in August. This speed was decisive.
How does studying work during wartime?
I’m not there on the ground, so I can only tell you what others have said. Obviously, it must be draining. An air-raid alarm in the morning, for example, means that classes can only start later in the day. Sometimes classes are held in the evening or at the weekend to make up for lost time. But the Kyiv School of Economics has taken precautions, including setting up an independent power supply and shelters.
The first cohort completed the programme in January. What were their initial experiences?
The feedback from the students was very positive. They can see that this isn’t a standard study programme. It’s highly demanding, as the pass rate shows: of the roughly 30 students who started in the initial cohort, seven completed the course successfully. But this is a pioneering group – neither the students nor the university had any practical experience of a programme like this. It’ll be different for the second year group. And, looking to the future, it would be useful to establish a Bachelor’s programme leading directly onto the Master’s.
What happens now?
The programme is constantly evolving, with new courses, new labs and new infrastructure. The second cohort is already benefiting from this. The Kyiv School of Economics wants to ensure the programme is practically relevant and industry-oriented. I’m convinced that, from the third year on, the programme can be run in Ukraine, operationally independent of ETH.