In May 2022, just over two months after the war in Ukraine started, Oxford announced the launch of a fully funded graduate scholarship scheme. 

Building on Oxford’s long-standing commitment to refugee scholars, the Graduate Scholarship Scheme for Ukraine Refugees offered a full-time, one-year Masters course across a broad range of subjects for those displaced by the war.

The scholarships were co-funded by the University and participating colleges, with each scholar given free accommodation and meals within their college, and a grant of £7,500 to support their study and living costs. St Antony's is proud to have been able to support the scheme.

In October 2022, the University welcomed 26 Ukraine refugees. Among them is Anastasiia Zagoruichyk, who travelled from Kyiv to the UK in a 24-hour drive following the Russian invasion. One year on from the start of the war, Anastasiia is halfway through her studies for an MSc in Sustainability, Enterprise and the Environment at St Antony’s College.

When she returns to Ukraine, Anastasiia wants to build a green future for her country:

To do this effectively, I’ll need to understand the technical policy changes that are needed, so I can help to implement them because although Ukraine has huge potential to be a green economy, we don’t have all the basics yet. We had about 10% of our energy from wind and solar before they invaded. Now sadly it is less, but we also have a huge opportunity to re-build our economy to be much less reliant on coal and gas.

St Antony's welcomes student on the University's Graduate Scholarship Scheme for Ukraine Refugees | News story 15 August 2022