On April 3–4, 2025, Professor of the Department of Accounting and Auditing at the State Tax University, Volodymyr Metelytsia, took part in the Philipp Schwartz Forum 2025 (Berlin, Germany).

The first day of the Forum was held at the Langenbeck-Virchow-Haus. The programme began with morning meetings of the Scholars at Risk Germany network, which included both general and regional assemblies. Later, a specialized workshop was held for representatives of host institutions, focusing on the administrative implementation of the Philipp Schwartz grants. The official opening of the forum took place at 2:00 p.m. with the participation of Robert Schlögl, President of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, and Christina Gehlsen from the Federal Foreign Office of Germany.

In the second half of the day, a panel discussion on the topic “Repression and Resistance – Feminist Perspectives” was held, featuring Nil Mutluer and Olga Shparaga. After the poster session, participants shared the results of their research. This was followed by a discussion on career development after the fellowship, including the experience of scholars from Ukraine and Turkey. The day concluded with a panel discussion on the state of the academic system in Syria, after which participants had the opportunity to network during a joint dinner.

The second day of the forum took place at Humboldt University. After the morning coffee, participants were welcomed by Judith Wellen from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and Christoph Schneider, Vice President for Research at the University. The main part of the day consisted of thematic workshops, which were divided into two tracks. The first track covered topics such as grant proposal writing, academic writing, strategic networking, career planning, and skills portfolio development. Within this track, Volodymyr Metelytsia took part in the seminar by Annette Kolb on the topic “Proposal Writing and Third-Party Funding Acquisition”.

The second track was dedicated to mental health issues, in particular overcoming isolation and stress in a new academic environment. Participants discussed practical approaches to supporting researchers in difficult conditions and new life realities.