Virtual Exchange Programme NICE

More about the NICE programme 2023

More about the NICE programme 2024

More about the NICE programme 2025

More about the NICE programme 2026

NICE – Network for Intercultural Competence to facilitate Entrepreneurship

NICE is a Virtual Exchange programme intended for all the students of  Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv. The project is broken down into seven educational modules aimed at developing soft skills, namely entrepreneurial, intercultural, and interpersonal skills, ability to cooperate, teamworking skills, and problem-solving approach, in order to promote the students’ professional growth and entry into the labour market.

Students will work both on individual basis and in interdisciplinary and multicultural teams to solve a “Global Challenge”.

In 2023, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv implemented the NICE  virtual exchange programme for the first time. Since then, the participation of KNU in the NICE programme became a meaningful annual tradition. This unique experience is possible thanks to the cooperation of KNU and the University of Edinburgh.

The NICE programme consists of two parts: online modules and a summer school, the venue for which changes every year. As a rule, the summer school is held at one of the universities that are members of the NICE consortium. A distinctive feature of the programme is that students work in intercultural teams on a project-based basis. Students come together to propose creative solutions to a specific global challenge and, at the end of the four-month virtual phase, present their project proposals. Throughout the virtual collaboration, students are supported by mentor-facilitators – former NICE programme participants who, better than anyone else, know how to organise teamwork and overcome any obstacles.

The summer school lasts one week and takes place in late June – early July, with the theme and location changing each year. Students who have performed best during the virtual phase are selected to take part in the summer school.

Members of the NICE consortium:

• University of Edinburgh;
• Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv;
• University of Amsterdam;
• University of Padua;
• University College Dublin;
• University of Johannesburg.

More details on KNU’s participation in the programme and the experiences of participants from each intake at the link.

NICE summer school 2025

NICE summer school 2025 was unique in nature, as it was organised jointly by Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv and the University of Edinburgh for the first time. Participants were asked to develop a proposal for reorganising student spaces in the city to create safer, more inclusive and sustainable environments. The summer school was held at the University of Edinburgh.

One of Kyiv and Edinburgh joint research groups, the Understanding Languages and Cultures Lab, contributed to the NICE summer school programme. As part of the Labs4TwinnedResearch, it is co-led by Dr. Emmanuelle Lacore-Martin (Department of European Languages and Literatures, University of Edinburgh) and Professor Lilia Miroshnychenko (Department of Foreign Literature, KNU).

Sessions dedicated to rethinking student spaces and place elasticity were held by the Impacts of War Lab, another part of the Labs4TwinnedResearch. The sessions were co-organised and facilitated by Professor Kostyantyn Mezentsev, Head of the Department of Economic and Social Geography (Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv), Professor Soledad Garcia Ferrari, Dean International of the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences and Professor of Global Urbanism and Resilience, and Dr Hafsa Olkay, Teaching Fellow at the Edinburgh School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture (University of Edinburgh).

More details on the NICE summer school 2025, co-hosted by KNU and the University of Edinburgh at the link.