Continuing Cooperation within the PACK IT Project
One of the greatest values of international academic exchange lies in personal meetings, direct communication, and the opportunity to become familiar with the laboratories, research approaches, and academic environments of partner universities. However, such exchanges become even more valuable when cooperation continues beyond the visit itself and develops into long-term collaboration, shared ideas, and joint scientific work.
A recent online meeting between representatives of Berliner Hochschule für Technik (BHT) and the Department of Mechatronics and Packaging Technology of the National University of Food Technologies (NUFT) became exactly such a continuation following the May visit of Ukrainian professors to Berlin within the DAAD-supported PACK IT project. The meeting brought together Prof. Stefan Junge, Prof. Nataliia Zaiets, Vice-Rector for Scientific Work Prof. Serhii Tokarchuk, Prof. Liudmyla Kryvoplias-Volodina, as well as lecturers and doctoral researchers from the department.
During the meeting, participants discussed new directions for cooperation in the fields of robotics, packaging automation, and modern engineering solutions for the packaging industry. Particular attention was given to the prospects of joint doctoral research, academic exchange, and the development of international mobility within the doctoral mobility programme of the PACK IT project.
Doctoral researchers Oleksandr Savchuk, Valentyn Tufekchi, and Anna Zubovych presented their own developments, scientific ideas, and the existing equipment of the Department of Mechatronics and Packaging Technology, which may be used in future joint research initiatives. The participants demonstrated technical solutions and laboratory facilities that create promising opportunities for further cooperation between the universities.
As a result of the meeting, the partners agreed to begin cooperation in an online format with the gradual development of joint research tasks. The goal is to prepare the groundwork for the doctoral researchers’ mobility programme at BHT in 2027, where they will continue implementing their developments within a joint PACK IT research project in the field of robotics and packaging process automation.
Such meetings demonstrate that international cooperation within PACK IT goes far beyond academic exchange and COIL-based online learning. The project is gradually becoming a platform for sustainable scientific cooperation, joint research, and long-term collaboration between young researchers, lecturers, and partner universities.
