Hosting Ukrainian academics and research professionals in Oxford

We were proud to host a delegation of Ukrainian academics and research professionals as part of an initiative aimed at upscaling Ukrainian publishing.

Around 20 delegates joined us in Oxford during a week-long development programme exploring how Ukraine’s scholarly publishing could enhance its quality, sustainability, and integration, organized jointly by the Supporting Ukrainian Publishing Resilience and Recovery (SUPRR) group and Oxford Brookes University’s Oxford International Centre for Publishing.

Christine Richardson

Group Communications Director

“It was an honour to host the Ukrainian delegation at our head office in Oxford. It was a chance to share more about OUP’s extensive history and expertise, highlight our work and how it continues to evolve, and discuss with the delegates about how to strengthen academic publishing in Ukraine—finishing off with a tour in our museum. We are grateful to have had the opportunity to be involved in this valuable initiative.“

 

After a short introduction to OUP, our history, and what we do, our colleagues presented to the group on a range of insightful topics.

Rhodri Jackson, Director of Open Access Publishing and Strategy, gave an overview of our Academic division and explored the current trends we are seeing in academic publishing, before later focusing on our activities in open access publishing.

Tom Stottor, Executive Editor, and Molly Richards, Acquisition Editor, explored interdisciplinary research: what it means, why we are seeing an increase in it, and how it can drive impact.

The delegation then rounded off their visit with a guided tour of the OUP museum.

Frances Pinter, founder of the SUPRR group, reflected on the day: “Ukrainian academic and scientific publishing persists tenaciously despite the war. At the same time, university presses are looking to make changes, especially as they adopt international standards consistent with the country’s road to joining the European Union.

“The visit to Oxford University Press was a highlight of the week. At OUP, visitors could see differences and similarities in approach and operations whilst marvelling, of course, at the sheer scale at which OUP operates. The warm welcomes and recognition of shared purpose was hugely appreciated, and even the sun cooperated, shining for an outdoor group photo!”

Find out more about the SUPRR group here.