The Invisible Cost of Resilience: the SUUN Round Table on Ukrainian Higher Education in Wartime

On June 25, 2026, an international round table titled “Borders in Flux and Academic Communities: Ukrainian Higher Education in a Wartime Context” was held as part of the SUUN Lecture Series 2026. The event focused on the transformation of Ukrainian higher education, relocated universities, academic communities, and cross-border cooperation under wartime conditions.

The event was organized by the Saar-Ukraine University Network (SUUN) with the participation of Saarland University. The discussion was moderated byProfessor Astrid M. Fellner. The speakers included representatives of Ukrainian universities with experience of working under conditions of war, displacement, and institutional transformation: Natalia Tsybuliak from Berdyansk State Pedagogical University, Alla Tsapiv from Kherson University, and Natalia Marakhovska from Mariupol University.

In her presentation, “The Invisible Cost of Resilience: Mental Health in Ukrainian Academic Communities During Wartime,” Natalia Tsybuliak presented the results of nationwide studies on the mental health of academic staff at Ukrainian higher education institutions during the full-scale war. Particular attention was paid to anxiety, depressive symptoms, professional burnout, displacement experience, and the role of institutional support.

The presentation emphasized that the resilience of Ukrainian universities is not cost-free. Behind the visible continuity of the educational process, research activities, and international cooperation lies a significant psychological burden on the people who sustain university life every day. Therefore, the mental health of academic communities should not be viewed as a private problem of individual teachers and researchers, but as an important condition for the long-term resilience, recovery, and development of Ukrainian higher education. Participation in the round table and the presentation of the research results took place within the framework of the state-funded fundamental research project “Supporting the Mental and Social Health of Teachers in the Academic Environment” No. 0125U001388.

Participation in the SUUN round table was another important step in presenting BSPU’s experience internationally and in reflecting on how Ukrainian universities are not only surviving during the war, but also building new forms of academic solidarity, cooperation, and long-term resilience.

Based on materials by Natalia Tsybuliak