Oleksiy Kandyuk started his academic career in 1998 at Chernivtsi National University with a specialization in European studies. Since his Ph.D. in 2007, he was an invited researcher in different academic and policy institutions in the USA, Germany, Italy, Belgium and Poland. He also worked in the framework of policy research as the President of the Institute for Social Research “Chronos”, dealing with research and development projects in the area of public policy, national security and social transformations. Together with the Newssky media agency, he co-founded the EU Neighborhood and Association Initiative with the main objective of promoting and accelerating the European integration of Ukraine. Since 2021, he is a Member of the Board of the Ukrainian Association of Professors and Researchers on European Integration (APREI).

His main research interests are in the field of European Integration, Euro-Atlantic relations and US and EU foreign relations with a special focus on post-soviet space transformation and the European future of Ukraine.

During his HIAS stay, Oleksiy Kandyuk will be engaged in a project related to Ukraine’s possible accession to the EU. Insofar as the state of EU-Ukraine relations to date has focused primarily on the institutional strengths and weaknesses of the Eastern Partnership, there is still a relative lack of specific knowledge about Ukraine and the criteria for its possible EU membership, which necessitates a far-reaching transformation of this approach using official EU membership indicators. The project aims to serve a political purpose while creating a framework that brings together academics, experts, young leaders, and members of civil society from both Ukraine and the EU.

His tandem partner is Maren Hofius, postdoc in International Political Sociology at Universität Hamburg.

Oleksiy Kandyuk’s HIAS Fellowship is provided by the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg and the federal and state funds acquired by Universität Hamburg in the framework of its Excellence Strategy.