Academic mobility: ICM Staff Week and Joint Academic Workshop at Mälardalen University

Representatives of the Department of Applied Statistics, Faculty of Computer Science and Cybernetics, together with representatives of the Department of Probability Theory, Statistics and Actuarial Mathematics, Faculty of Mechanics and Mathematics, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, took part in ICM Staff Week (1–5 June 2026) and the ICM Joint Academic Workshop on Stochastic and Numerical Methods (2 June 2026) at Mälardalen University (MDU, Västerås, Sweden). The visit was organised under the Erasmus+ International Credit Mobility (ICM, KA171) programme.

The purpose of the visit was to explore European approaches to teaching mathematical disciplines, exchange pedagogical practices, strengthen cooperation between the partner universities, and establish contacts for future Erasmus+ projects.

Every June, MDU hosts ICM International Staff Week: meetings with the university administration, programme directors, leading mathematicians, staff and students. This year the event brought together colleagues from 13 partner countries. During the week, the SUCCESS Erasmus+ CBHE project was presented, including the results of the Smart Room student projects from autumn 2025 and the 2025–2026 Idea Competition. Participants also attended the defence of bachelor’s and master’s theses in mathematics. A distinctive feature of this procedure is that a student sits on the committee as an opponent — a useful way to involve students in academic life, which is taken into account in the final assessment.

On 2 June 2026 the campus in Västerås hosted the ICM Joint Academic Workshop on Stochastic and Numerical Methods. The workshop was organised by Mälardalen University together with the National Technical University of Ukraine “Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute” and Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv. It brought together researchers in stochastic analysis, numerical methods, mathematical modelling, optimisation, statistics and machine learning. The event was supported by Erasmus+ ICM 2024 and the MAM (Mathematics/Applied Mathematics) research environment. Local organisers were Ying Ni, Sergey Korotov and Milica Rančić.

The Department of Applied Statistics, Faculty of Computer Science and Cybernetics, was represented by Associate Professor Vadym Ponomarov, who gave the talk On multicriterial optimization of retrial queueing systems. The presentation addressed optimal control problems in retrial queues and solution methods applicable to a wide range of retrial architectures.

The Department of Probability Theory, Statistics and Actuarial Mathematics, Faculty of Mechanics and Mathematics, was represented by Iryna Bodnarchuk, Rostyslav Yamnenko and Vitaliy Miroshnychenko. Researchers from Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute and MDU also spoke in the programme.

Participation in Staff Week and the joint workshop supports further academic exchanges for students and staff, widens the partner networks of both departments, and helps integrate Ukrainian science into the European Higher Education Area. Erasmus+ continues to open new opportunities for teachers and students alike.