During the week of June 30 to July 4, 2025, the Faculty of Science at Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice welcomed Dr. Yuliia J. Serzhantova, Assistant Professor and PhD candidate from the Department of Physical Geography and Cartography of the Faculty of Geology, Geography, Recreation, and Tourism at V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University. This institution is among the most prestigious universities in Ukraine and is associated with three Nobel Prize laureates in Physiology or Medicine, Physics, and Economics.
The Faculty of Science at UPJŠ maintains long-standing partnerships with the Faculty of Physics at Karazin University, primarily through collaboration with our Institute of Physics. In this context, the visit of Dr. Serzhantova opens the door to expanding cooperation into the fields of geography, geoinformatics, and remote sensing, strengthening interdisciplinary ties between our institutions.
Dr. Serzhantova took part in a series of professional meetings and academic activities at our faculty. On July 1, 2025, she met with Assoc. Prof. Michal Gallay, PhD, Vice-Dean for External Relations, and Dr. Katarína Onačillová, Erasmus+ coordinator at the faculty. During her visit, she was introduced to the key research and teaching activities of the faculty and its departments. She also visited the GIS and Remote Sensing laboratories at the Department of Geography, where discussions were held on the use of satellite and UAV technologies in precision agriculture and the restoration of landscapes affected by war.
On July 3, Dr. Serzhantova delivered a presentation at a departmental seminar, introducing her university, faculty, and department. She presented the structure of study programs, research priorities, and teaching focus, which show significant parallels with those at our faculty. This alignment provides a strong basis for the future development of student and staff mobility, joint research projects, and academic exchange in geography, geoinformatics, and remote sensing.
Particularly inspiring was her presentation on the field research station near Kharkiv, which serves as a base for hands-on education in soil science, biogeographical mapping, hydrology, and meteorology. The station operates its own network of meteorological stations (meteo.physgeo.com), features a permanent GNSS site for real-time precision mapping, and includes an EUMETCast reception system for meteorological and Earth observation satellite data. Research outcomes are made available to the public via their institutional geoportal. This practice-oriented approach to teaching is highly inspirational for our academic community.
Dr. Serzhantova also shared insights into how teaching and research continue at her university despite the daily threat posed by the Russian war in Ukraine, highlighting the resilience and commitment of the Ukrainian academic community.
