Professor Jay Cullen and Dr Jennifer Giblin, from the School of Law and Criminal Justice, represented the University at the official signing ceremony in London where Edge Hill was one of only three UK universities to sign the memorandum of cooperation in the presence of Ukrainian government ministers.
The Global Coalition of Ukrainian Studies (GCUS) is a Ukrainian government initiative, launched in July 2024 with the First Lady of Ukraine Olena Zelenska, who addressed attendees. The Coalition aims to unite the efforts of universities and research institutions around the world to support and amplify Ukrainian studies, including Ukrainian language, literature, history, culture and security studies.
The signing followed the annual Twinning Conference – which took place during Ukrainian Culture Week – hosted by Cormack Consultancy Group (CCG) with Universities UK at Birkbeck, University of London.
CCG founder and chairman Charles Cormack said: “I was delighted to be at the signing of the memorandum of understanding between Edge Hill and GCUS.
GCUS is such an important initiative, and I would love to see many more UK universities already involved in Twinning join the coalition.”
The ceremony, attended by the Ukrainian Minister for Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha, the Ambassador of Ukraine to the UK, General Valerii Zaluzhnyi and the CEO of Universities UK Vivienne Stern, followed the annual Twinning Conference. This event brought together universities, government representatives and international organisations to celebrate an ongoing twinning partnership between British and Ukrainian higher education institutions.
During the conference, Dr Giblin discussed Edge Hill’s twinning with Yaroslav Mudyri National Law University (YMNLU) in Kharkiv, highlighting successful outcomes of the partnership including the creation of a new dual degree – LLM Artificial Intelligence, Digital and Cyber Law – and the collaborative writing of International Law After the Ukraine War.
Professor George Talbot, Pro-Vice Chancellor (Research and Knowledge Exchange), said: “Edge Hill’s invite to the UK-Ukraine Twinning Conference was a real honour and I congratulate Professor Cullen, Dr Giblin and their colleagues for representing the University on this project.
“The ongoing partnership between universities like ours in the UK and Ukraine is a real celebration of academic collaboration and international solidarity during an incredibly difficult time for the country.”
During Ukrainian Culture Week, Edge Hill joined universities across the UK to celebrate Ukrainian culture, language and resilience through education, cultural and community activities.
The International Justice and Human Rights Centre hosted the official launch of International Law After the Ukraine War which was published, open access, with Routledge thanks to a grant supported by Universities UK and the Fund of the President of Ukraine.
And Edge Hill and YMNLU joined together to hold a research seminar on ‘AI and the Law – A Tool or a Threat?’, with colleagues from YMNLU presenting their research on the use of AI and technology in the Ukrainian legal system and criminal investigations.
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November 25, 2025
