Nov 02, 2026
Partnership with NTU Kharkiv Continues to Grow
Cooperation meeting with partners from Kharkiv. From left to right: Prof. Markus Scholz, Prof. Oksana Makovoz, Prof. Nataliia Shmatko, Prof. Ruslan Kryvobog, Prof. Stefan Eckert, Prof. Thorsten Claus
Workshop über das Kharkiver Startup-Ökosystem mit Prof. Nataliia Shmatko
The current winter semester has brought significant momentum to the relationship between IHI Zittau and the National Technical University “Politechnika Kharkivska” (NTU Kharkiv for short): Not only is a student from NTU Kharkiv currently studying for a semester at IHI Zittau through the ERASMUS program, but Anna Chesko, a doctoral student from Kharkiv, is also currently conducting research at the Chair of Production Economy and Information Technology under IHI Director Prof. Thorsten Claus, who immediately invited Ms. Chesko to a doctoral colloquium in Dresden. And—as the saying goes, all good things come in threes—two representatives from the academic leadership of the partner university also visited Zittau in November:
Prof. Ruslan Kryvobog, Vice-Rector Research, and Prof. Nataliia Shmatko, Director of the Kharkiv Startup Center “Spark,” not only held cooperation talks on the further development of the joint double-degree program but also conducted a workshop on the astonishingly dynamic development of a startup ecosystem amid constant Russian bombardments in Kharkiv. During the workshop, Prof. Shmatko described the initiatives at NTU Kharkiv—which begin as early as elementary school—to inspire and foster an entrepreneurial spirit.