Simferopol wins award
In June 2011, the Faculty of Biology at the V.I. Vernadsky Taurida National University of Simferopol was awarded the university with the most humane education programme in Ukraine. The jury, consisting of representatives from Doctors Against Animal Experiments and InterNICHE, the International Network for Humane Education, recognised the university's efforts to completely replace all animal experiments in student education and to develop its own animal-free teaching methods. At the award ceremony, Prof Elena Chuyan, Head of the Deparftment of Human and Animal Physiology, received a bronze frog as a prize.
At the V.I. Vernadsky Taurida National University of Simferopol on the Crimean peninsula, we equipped three departments with animal-free teaching materials in 2009/2010:
- Department of Human and Animal Physiology
- Department of Zoology of the Faculty of Biology
- Faculty of Sport
This means that studying at this university is completely animal-free. The lecturers also realise their own ideas, for example harmless self-experiments were developed and used with students.
The award was intended to raise public awareness on the issue of animal use in education and motivate other university lecturers to switch to animal-free teaching methods.
The award ceremony took place at a two-day event in the press room of the University of Simferopol on 16 June 2011.
Dimitrij Leporskij from InterNICHE Ukraine, project leader and organiser of the event, Prof Elena Chuyan and Irina Novozhilova from the Russian animal rights organisation VITA.
The prize: a bronze sculpture in the shape of a frog.
At the V.I. Vernadsky Taurida National University of Simferopol, all curriculums have been converted to animal-free with our support. The lecturers have also developed their own teaching methods, including harmless self-experiments on students.
Prof Chuyan regards the award as motivation to convince more colleagues to provide humane education. The University of Simferopol should serve as a role model for other universities.
After the press conference, the film ‘Humane Education in CIS Countries’, which was financed by us and produced by VITA, was shown in the university's film hall in front of numerous students and university lecturers.
The local media in the autonomous region of Crimea reported extensively on the award ceremony.