The world's view of Ukraine in 2022 has changed completely in the wake of Russian aggression on its territory, triggering a series of external and internal crises. In the long term, Ukraine began to change, to emancipate itself while becoming more intertwined with the Western community. These realities led the Institute of International Studies of the Faculty of International Studies of the Charles University to take advantage of its professional capacities and apply them in the form of an ad hoc establishment of a special Certificate on Ukraine: Contemporary History, Politics and Society. This certificate demonstrates that its holder is competent in the analysis of Ukraine's contemporary history and its contemporary foreign, domestic political and social developments, including a basic orientation in the language.

The ongoing Russian war of aggression and Ukrainian resistance to it require substantial revisions of the very structure of knowledge production on Eastern Europe and the post-Soviet space. This specific research focus breaks through the Russia-centred tradition of Eurasian studies and exposes the specificity of Ukraine’s post-1991 development, its diverging trajectory from the neighbouring states, and it also touches on broader implications of regional phenomena. It aims at preparing experts on the country through enforcing their language skills, connecting them with the high-end expertise at the IMS and on the ground.

The structure of studies is built around specific courses on Ukraine taught at IMS, Ukrainian language courses, and closer cooperation with partner institutions in Ukraine. Students are expected to have a fellowship at the research centre “Ukraine in a changing Europe”, which will strengthen their research skills and experiences, and connect them with the cutting-edge academic research on the country-related matters. Their seminar/policy paper will be jointly supervised by an IMS expert and an external expert from a Ukrainian partner institution.