War in Ukraine: Three Years of Commitment at Sciences Po

Having dealt with the urgent matter of repatriating and ensuring the safety of the Sciences Po students of various nationalities who were on academic exchange or completing internships in Ukraine or Russia at the time of the invasion, from March 2022 onwards, Sciences Po began hosting Ukrainian students forced to flee their home country.

Since then, 68 Ukrainian refugee students have been studying on the different Sciences Po campuses, principally the Dijon, Paris, Reims and Nancy Campuses. They come from our partner universities: the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy (NaUKMA) and Taras Shevchenko University.

The European Commission, through its Erasmus+ programme, made it possible for our institution to welcome those students by providing near 350,000 euros of scholarships.

The tuition fees for students enrolled in Master's degree programmes are fully funded by our donors.

In addition, the university has assisted a dozen Ukrainian students who were enrolled at Sciences Po at the time of the invasion. An exceptional Master’s admissions procedure was introduced, with substantial financial aid made available for these students.

Among our generous contributors: the Stanton Foundation, the Fondation Vinci pour la Cité, Eurazeo and numerous individual donors… We would like to thank this massive wave of solidarity and the mobilisation of donors, companies, and foundations.

In 2022, Sciences Po welcomed, as part of the institutional programme PAUSE, the Ukrainian researcher Ievgeniia Gubkina, and provided her an academic affiliation to the Urban School, urgent housing (for her daughter and herself), and administrative support.

These courses have been given on a voluntary basis by our professors from autumn 2023, at the request of our partner, the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy (NaUKMA). We would like to thank the professors for their commitment.

Since the Russian invasion, Sciences Po has expanded its partnership network in Ukraine with the signing of exchange partnership agreements with Taras Shevchenko University (2022) and the Kyiv School of Economics (2024).

As a founding member of CIVICA, the European University of Social Sciences, which brings together ten higher education institutions as a pilot European university, Sciences Po is a participant in the “CIVICA for Ukraine” project, launched in December 2022, with five Ukrainian universities: Kyiv School of Economics (KSE), Kyiv National Economic University (KNEU), National University of Kyiv Mohyla Academy (NaUKMA), Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv (UCU), and Vasyl’ Stus Donetsk National University (Vasyl' Stus DonNU).

“CIVICA for Ukraine” provides a framework for cooperation whose aim is to protect Ukraine's academic potential and support its higher education in view of an increased collaboration with EU universities after the war. This initiative allows the students and faculty members at Ukrainian partner universities to access the activities of the CIVICA alliance at all degree levels (Bachelor’s, Master’s and PhD). It also has a research component.

At the start of the 2024 academic year, Dmytro Kuleba, former Ukrainian Foreign Minister, joined Sciences Po as an Adjunct Professor and Harvard University as a Senior Fellow.

Since January 2025, Dmytro Kuleba has been teaching a course on wartime diplomacy at the Sciences Po Paris School of International Affairs (PSIA) to students enrolled in the Master International Security and the Master International Governance & Diplomacy.