At TNC26, the Vietsch Foundation awarded a special Vietsch Medal of Honour to the Ukrainian Research and Academic Network (URAN), acknowledging the organisation’s extraordinary efforts to sustain Ukraine’s research and education connectivity during wartime.
Traditionally, the Vietsch Medal of Honour recognises individual achievement. This year, however, the Foundation’s trustees made a unanimous and deliberate departure from precedent. In honouring URAN as an organisation, they recognised not just leadership, but the collective resilience, technical expertise, and unwavering commitment of an entire team operating under extreme conditions. Since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began on 24 February 2022, URAN has served as a critical lifeline for the country’s academic and research communities. Amid air raids, damage to energy infrastructure, and the persistent instability of war, the network has remained operational, often against considerable odds. Connectivity has been maintained and sustained with remarkable reliability, ensuring that universities, schools, and research institutions continue to function. This continuity has far reaching implications. Education and research are pillars of national resilience and long-term recovery. By keeping digital infrastructure intact, URAN has enabled students to continue learning and researchers to pursue their work, preserving intellectual capital at a time when it is most at risk.
The medal was presented at TNC26 by Pekka Kahkipuro, trustee of the Vietsch Foundation, who highlighted the exceptional dedication of the URAN team, led by Yevhenii Preobrazhenskyi. He described their efforts as “nothing short of heroic,” emphasising the team’s ability to maintain services without significant outages despite the daily realities of conflict. Kahkipuro also underlined the hum an dimension of URAN’s work. Recalling a remote lecture he delivered to a Ukrainian university during the war, he noted the determination of students to continue their education. That experience, he said, was made possible by the network’s stability, an invisible yet indispensable foundation for learning.
In accepting the medal, Yevhenii Preobrazhenskyi said: “The URAN team is deeply moved that our work and resilience have been recognised with such an important medal. For us, this is a powerful sign that our lives, efforts, and dedication matter to GÉANT, Europe, and the wider community. This recognition, our ongoing work, and indeed the very survival of the URAN team would have been impossible without the unwavering support of the GÉANT community and the Vietsch Foundation. It is thanks to this support that we can continue serving the R&E community in Ukraine, providing GÉANT services to universities and institutions, and sustaining hope for peace in our country and across Europe.”
Support for URAN has extended beyond Ukraine’s borders. In the immediate aftermath of the invasion, and at the request of GÉANT, the Vietsch Foundation established a dedicated mechanism to provide financial assistance. Since then, numerous European NRENs have contributed annually, demonstrating the strength and solidarity of the global R&E community.
At TNC26, this spirit of collective support took another step forward. The GÉANT Humanitarian Support Group announced that individual contributions can now be made to support URAN through the Vietsch Foundation. Conference participants were invited to engage directly at the Humanitarian Support booth, reinforcing the idea that sustaining connectivity in times of crisis is a shared responsibility. The recognition of URAN at TNC26 is a testament to the essential role of research and education networks in safeguarding continuity during disruption. It also serves as a reminder that infrastructure, often taken for granted, becomes visible when it is under threat, and indispensable when it holds. In honouring URAN, the Vietsch Foundation not only acknowledges past and ongoing efforts but also calls attention to the importance of continued support. As the conflict persists, so too does the need to ensure that Ukraine’s academic and research communities remain connected, engaged, and able to look toward the future.
