Study programme “Information technologies for sustainable energy engineering” is the product of collaboration between Ivano-Frankivsk national technical university of oil and gas and London South Bank University as a part of the Twinning Initiative. Partner institutions were introduced to each other in summer 2022. Memorandum of understanding was signed  9th January 2023 (see Supplement materials, 07 – MOU with London South Bank University). 

Before that, in December 2022. Twinning initiative representatives announced a call for application for dual degrees programmes partnerships and offered the financial support of programme establishment. Two departments of partner institutions, IFNTUOG Institute of Information technologies and LSBU school of engineering started to work on a mutual programme. 

Programme profile was chosen because the number of reasons:

• both partner universities have considerable experience in the field of energy;
• two units around which the program is based – LSBU School of Engineering and IFNTUOG Institute of Information Technologies, are equipped with qualified and motivated personnel working at the edge of IT and energy;
• IFNTUOG already has the bachelor level programme “Renewable energy engineering” (first graduation – 2024), and the master programme in close field will be a good proposal for entrants after graduation;
• energy security and sustainable development of the energy sector of Ukraine – key issues of science and education during and after war;
• digital transformation of production and business processes is a task facing all sectors of the economy in Ukraine;
• Ivano-Frankivsk is a city where the development of the IT industry is almost the fastest in Ukraine.

The proposed programme was aimed to cover the technology necessary to create and maintain systems for measuring energy consumption, renewable energy generation, and the sustainability-related aspects of buildings. Poorly planned development has had a significant impact on climate change. Greenhouse gas emissions can be reduced by data analysis and decision-making pertaining to the sustainable development of cities, industry, and infrastructure. According to a United Nations research, nine out of ten individuals living in urban areas globally were breathing air that did not exceed WHO standards. The programme aligns with the Sustainable Development Goal of the United Nations.

The expected outcome is that the students will obtain a comprehensive understanding of Informational Systems for Sustainable Energy Engineering in order to satisfy the requirements of redevelopment plans that are connected with the sustainable energy objectives set forth by the United Nations. In addition, it will help them to achieve the goal of decarbonizing the entire planet.

During January 2023, IFNTUOG and LSBU worked on a programme profile draft and submitted it as grant application. At the end of February 2023 partners were informed that their application was chosen for funding along with 5 other applications. The condition of funding was to start first study year of the programme in September 2023, so the timeline was very intensive.

IFNTUOG started to prepare the documents to pass them to the LSBU Validation board. Documents draft was prepared by the end of March 2023, and Validation date was set to 28th of April 2023. Validation was passed successfully and 26th of June 2023 validation certificate was issued.

Worth to notice that though IFNTUOG aimed for the accreditation of programme by international agency, still programme was developed according to requirements of specific standard of higher education of Ukraine. Programme goals make it multidisciplinary, but it fits well the master level standard for specialty 175 “Information and measurement technologies” ELOs and competency framework.

First admission campaign started in July 2023, and the academic year started in September 2023. As for now, students finished 1st semester activities and started study second semester modules. First graduation is planned for January 2024.

Programme form of delivery relies on 100% teaching activities implemented by IFNTUOG staff with constant quality control from LSBU side and involving LSBU staff into research activities, guest lectures, curriculum update, etc.

LSBU as a party of collaboration agreement on programme validation is deeply involved in process of running the programme. According to agreement:

• IFNTUOG is responsible for delivering programme in english in accordance with IFNTUOG and Course Specification, but programme goes through LSBU Approval process before its start. 
• In order to assure the quality of the student learning experience, IFNTUOG provides suitable staff, teaching and learning facilities for the delivery of the programme.
• LSBU may provide students with access to on-line learning resources and e-learning platforms as agreed by the Management Board.
• Students shall firstly and primarily be enrolled as students of the IFNTUOG and their contract will be with the IFNTUOG. Once enrolled, student details will be sent to LSBU to create unique SRS identifiers and enable the award of LSBU degree certificates and the provision of academic transcripts in accordance with LSBU Regulations.
• Awards shall be conferred only on students who have fulfilled LSBU’s requirements for an LSBU award. LSBU is responsible for issuing award certificates and final and complete transcripts to students. Transcripts will record the name of the IFNTUOG and the location of delivery. Students who are eligible for the conferment of a LSBU award shall be entitled to attend a graduation ceremony organised by the IFNTUOG.
• Each party of agreement is responsible for the maintenance of academic standards, the learning opportunities provided to Students and the academic quality of its awards.
• The parties will jointly establish an Examination Board for each Course in accordance with the Partner Regulations. Meetings of the Examination Board may take place either at LSBU or at the Partner.

After successful completion of the programme students will be awarded by both IFNTUOG and LSBU diplomas.

Teaching is done completely by IFNTUOG and on the basis of IFNTUOG, but in the next few years we will consider the possibility of involving British colleagues in teaching. Right now it’s a bit complicated because the programme is offline, and due to war academic mobility of teaching staff from both sides is limited. Also, one of the conditions of launching this programme as a part of Twinning partnership was a possibility for students to get dual degree without needing to leave Ukraine in time of war, but we are constantly searching for possibilities to involve staff of both universities and students into collaboration activities.

After graduation, students get two diplomas and diploma supplements – from LSBU and IFNTUOG, mentioning that programme was developed and provided in partnership.