Support for Ukraine: Donation Campaign "Books for Friends" and Work on Remote Project

Support for our partner university CPNU in Ukraine continues: The ‘Books for Friends’ donation project is currently underway at H-BRS. Our donations finance essential textbooks for CPNU students and thus make an important contribution to securing the study situation at our partner university. Two visiting students from Chernihiv report on the current situation in their home country. During their project stay at H-BRS, they are currently experiencing a bit of student normality and a break from the war. They are working on a remote laboratory experiment that will soon be used in teaching at their home university.

Aktionsplakat Spendenaktion Books for Friends für Partnerhochschule CPNU, Tschernihiv

After donations from H-BRS in 2023 and 2024 were used to equip an open learning and working space, a so-called Maker Lab, with modern tools at our partner university, this year we will purchase up-to-date specialist books for the students. The campaign is called ‘Books4Friends’. Please help! The books will significantly improve the study situation in the midst of the war and are also an important sign of our solidarity with the CPNU.

The Russian war of aggression has dramatically worsened the situation at the CPNU. The technically oriented university is repeatedly targeted by Russian missiles and drones. With the safety of students in mind, teaching takes place almost exclusively online. For students, this situation is particularly stressful.

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Dozent und Studierende der Partnerhochschule Tschernihiv zu Gast an der H-BRS. Foto Barbara Wieners-Horst

Meeting the Dean: (from the left) Dr. Maksym Khomenko (CPNU), Vladyslav, IWK-Dean Professor Iris Groß, Dmytro, Dr. Oleksandr Velihorskyi (H-BRS/CPNU)

Impressions from visiting students from Ukraine

In order to maintain practice-oriented teaching online, laboratory experiments that can be controlled via the internet are particularly important. H-BRS has many years of experience in this area, including in joint projects with CPNU. Two CPNU students are currently working on a new remote laboratory experiment at the Sankt Augustin campus. The relaxation of Ukraine's exit regulations made it possible for Vladyslav and Dmytro to visit H-BRS for a few weeks. Under the guidance of their lecturer Dr. Maksym Khomenko, the two are working in the laboratories of the Department of Engineering and Communication on a remote control element that can be used to regulate temperature.

Have they themselves used the equipment in the donation-funded Maker Lab at CPNU? Clear answer: Yea. They report using oscilloscopes, 3D printers and spectrum analysers for measurements and experiments. Last but not least, the high-performance power stations and chargers ensure the use of the laboratory – and often other university facilities as well.

Next weekend, Vlad and Dima will say goodbye to H-BRS with many impressions of the Rhineland. They will travel back to their country, where the constant threat of drones makes it dangerous for them to move around freely, go to university, and meet their fellow students. Nevertheless, they see their future in a peaceful Ukraine and dream of good jobs and building a life in their homeland. They dream of a homeland that is not bombed by an overpowering neighbor, of a life with family and friends who do not have to defend the country on the front lines, as they do now.