3-rd of March 2023 

In January this year, an agreement on scientific, academic, and cultural cooperation was signed between the Jagiellonian University Medical College and the National University Ostroh Academy in Ostroh, Ukraine. The Ostroh Academy traces its lineage back to the university founded back in 1576, where students learned five languages: Old Church Slavonic, Polish, Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, and studied medicine, among other study directions. It had many famous alumni, including the Cossack Hetman Petro (Peter) Konashevych-Sahaidachny. The model of a higher education institution developed in Ostroh, at the crossroads of Western European and Byzantine cultures, was transferred to Kyiv, from which it spread to Moldova and Moscow. The contemporary Ostroh Academy consists of two faculties and four institutes. Among other, it has within its structure also the Department of Public Health and Physical Education.

The cooperation agreement, concluded over a period of five years, is a continuation of the letter of intent on cooperation, signed in 2019 between the two academic centers. It is intended to become the basis for initiating joint research, applying for funding for collaborative projects, exchanging scientific staff, students, and experience, as well as joint development of teaching content and scientific publications. The ongoing war in Ukraine should not be an unconditional obstacle to developing this cooperation.

The first anniversary of triggering by Russia this war in its open and full-scale dimension has just passed. The attempt to capture Kyiv within three days, install a puppet government there and move the borders of the “Russian world” further west failed. The war continues and it is difficult to predict when it will end. Thanks to the heroism and resilience of its own people and the help of many countries, including Poland, Ukraine continues to fend off armed aggression but is paying a very high price for it every day.

Humanitarian support is still needed, including for Ostroh. Contacts and cooperation have been established with the city of Sandomierz, a partner city for Ostroh, which has already been organizing humanitarian collections for the residents of this Ukrainian city. Let’s carry out a campaign of support for Ostroh together!

Humanitarian relief items that we manage to collect thanks to the goodwill and generosity of the academic community of the Jagiellonian University Medical College will be taken to the Sandomierz Municipal Office, from where they will be transported further to Ostroh.

Items useful for humanitarian collection:

– Food with a long shelf life

– Hygiene products

– Medical equipment and dressing materials, first aid kits

– Fire extinguishers

– Blankets, sleeping bags, mattresses, pillows, flashlights, batteries, and other items necessary for survival

Duration of the humanitarian collection – until April 24, 2023.

Collection locations:

– 8 Skawińska Street – room 018 on the first floor of the building (Office of the Directorate of the Institute of Public Health of the Faculty of Health Sciences of the Jagiellonian University Medical College).

– 12 Michałowskiego Street – gatehouse on the first floor of the building (Faculty of Health Sciences of the Jagiellonian University Medical College).

Contact for the humanitarian collection for Ostroh – Tomasz Bochenek (t.bochenek@uj.edu.pl)

Photo source: National University Ostrog Academy http://photo.oa.edu.ua/