After the events of February 2022, all Ukrainians were forced to deal with unexpected challenges; electricity blackouts, air raid sirens, and internet outages have become standard. People have faced profound disruptions to their professional and personal lives. While the war has affected the entire Ukrainian scientific community, men have encountered unique and severe career setbacks due to restrictions on international mobility and the pressures of wartime service.
- Under martial law, Ukrainian men aged 18 to 60 are generally prohibited from leaving the country, limiting their ability to attend international conferences, participate in research exchanges, or take up fellowships abroad. These opportunities, often critical for career development and collaboration, have been abruptly closed off.
- Many male researchers have been called to serve in the military or are involved in civil defense efforts, further halting their academic careers.
- Laboratories have been destroyed or repurposed
- Access to equipment and funding has been restricted.
- Ukrainian male researchers are at risk of long-term academic marginalization.
Male scientists found themselves in a new position that revolved around the obligation to stay in the country and balance their academic work and civil defense.
At Vasyl Stefanyk Precarpathian National University (PNU), located in the relatively safer western region of Ukraine, male researchers continue to teach, supervise students, and conduct research against the odds. Their determination is not a reflection of a lack of ambition, but of a deep-rooted sense of duty – to their students, their scientific fields, and their country.
Professor Volodymyr Kotsiubynsky, a respected physicist and active academic leader, is one such example. Despite having multiple opportunities to leave the country through research collaborations abroad or conference invitations, he chose to stay. He continues to teach, supervise PhD students, and conduct research under precarious conditions. As an EDUC-WIDE Seed Project Expert Panel member, he participated only virtually in the SPEP meeting in April 2025.
Some, like Dr. Yuriy Sydoryk, a prominent psychologist and leading expert in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), joined the Ukrainian Armed Forces in March 2022 and continues to serve as a soldier while still offering lectures and academic support to students, sometimes from the frontlines.
Other male researchers at PNU share similar stories. Some combine scientific work with volunteering for territorial defense or humanitarian missions. Others face the emotional toll of raising children in a time of conflict or coping with interrupted research projects due to destroyed laboratories or inaccessible international partnerships.
Through their daily commitment, these men are not only holding the line in academia, but they are also actively shaping the post-war intellectual and civic future of Ukraine.