TNMU Educators’ Team Wins the “Nansen EDU 2025” Grant Project

A team of educators from I. Horbachevsky Ternopil National Medical University has won the “Nansen EDU 2025” grant competition within the framework of Norwegian-Ukrainian cooperation in higher education. The competition was announced by the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine and the Norwegian Directorate for Higher Education and Skills to support partnership projects between higher education institutions in Norway and Ukraine.

The project, entitled “Establishing an Internationally Aligned Paramedic Education System and Community-Based Emergency Preparedness Structures in Ukraine through Partnership with Norway,” was jointly developed by Nord University (Bodø, Norway), TNMU, and Sumy State University.

The project aims to address the urgent and systemic need to modernize paramedic education in Ukraine in response to the prolonged impact of wartime conditions, ongoing healthcare reforms, and documented gaps in prehospital emergency care outcomes. Through strategic collaboration among the partners, the project will develop a quality-assured, internationally aligned bachelor’s degree programme in paramedicine based on Norwegian best practices.

The project seeks to achieve its goals by strengthening and enhancing the quality and relevance of clinical training, implementing simulation-based training, developing an English-language course entitled “Combat Paramedic Training,” and establishing university-based emergency preparedness structures. By combining educational reform with community resilience building, the project is expected to improve clinical competencies, enhance international recognition, increase academic mobility, and strengthen Ukraine’s emergency response capacity.

The total funding for the project amounts to 4.6 million Norwegian kroner, and its implementation will take place over a period of three years. The project is coordinated by the Nord University team under the leadership of Maria Strandås.

The TNMU project team includes Professor Mariia Marushchak, Dean of the Faculty of International Students (project leader); Liudmyla Mazur, Associate Professor of the Department of Higher Nursing Education, Patient Care and Clinical Immunology; Oleksandr Tokarskyi, Vice-Dean of the Faculty of International Students; Professor Arsen Hudyma, Head of the Department of Emergency and Simulation Medicine; and teaching assistants Antonina Chervatiuk and Mariana-Ivanna Varvaruk from the Department of Emergency and Simulation Medicine.