Ukrainian Research Institute Explores Opening Research Center in Kiev

The Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute is using a seed grant from the Sustainable Ukraine Foundation to look into establishing a research center in Kiev, Ukraine.

The proposed research center would serve to advance Ukrainian Studies research and teaching, to find and make use of resources, and to involve students and faculty in Ukraine, according to an announcement on the Institute’s website.

The Kyiv Initiative, as the project is called, is in an exploratory stage, during which the Institute plans to search for potential donors and start planning for legal and administrative approval processes, the announcement said.

Tymish J. Holowinsky, the Institute’s executive director, emphasized in an email that the Institute is still in the “very preliminary stages” with the project.

“We have not actually decided or committed to [establish a research office in Kiev] until we have explored all that is entailed in having an office abroad, discussed the matter further internally, and obtained authorization to move forward in accordance with University policy and procedure,” Holowinsky wrote.

The Institute plans to work with partners based in Ukraine to create a proposal for the research center, which would then need to be reviewed by the University Committee on International Projects and Sites and approved by the University Provost. A second stage of review from Harvard would follow, the announcement said.

The Kyiv Initiative follows several recent moves to explore expanding Harvard’s international presence. In 2010 University President Drew G. Faust launched an International Strategy Working Group, which a year later issued a set of recommendations to administrators about the University’s global approach. In 2012, Harvard Business School professor Krishna G. Palepu was named senior adviser to the president for global strategy, a newly created position.

And in a May email to faculty listing seven principles that will guide Harvard’s upcoming capital campaign, which is set to launch next month, Faust mentioned international strategy within the context of one of those principles, the globalization of knowledge.

—Staff writer Madeline R. Conway at mconway@college.harvard.edu. Follow her on Twitter @MadelineRConway.