In 2023-2024, Tetiana Melnychuk, Candidate of Law, Associate Professor of the Department of Criminal Procedure of the National University “Odesa Law Academy”, continued her cooperation with the University of Osnabrück (Germany) as a visiting scholar.
This stage of the scientific internship coincided with the half-century anniversary of the German university, which made it even more exciting to delve into its history and get acquainted with numerous milestones, new beginnings, countless successes and, of course, failures that marked the past years, but made it possible to reassess efforts and shape future development vectors.
In addition to getting acquainted with the organisation of the educational process and the use of leading methods and techniques for teaching criminal law disciplines, the associate professor studied in detail the foreign experience of organising scientific work at the Centre for the Study of European and International Criminal Law at the University of Osnabrück; improved her research skills through testing and mastering the latest methodological approaches to processing and analysing criminological information.
The cooperation with the Centre for Doctoral and Postdoctoral Researchers (ZePrOs) of the host university was also informative. As an interdisciplinary unit, ZePrOs supports doctoral and post-doctoral students, as well as junior professors from all disciplines in their further academic and interdisciplinary qualifications. ZePrOs offers interdisciplinary workshops to strengthen scientific and work-related key skills, as well as career guidance offers. In terms of career planning, early-career scientists receive targeted support in developing an on- or off-campus career and, importantly, finding a life-work balance. The goal is to prepare doctoral students and post-doctoral fellows for successful leadership roles in science and business. Junior professors are supported in their leadership and management tasks through consultations, coaching and seminar offerings.
The university pays considerable attention to the quality and ethics of publications. Both young and experienced researchers have the opportunity to improve their academic writing skills, including in English, in courses organised by the university. It is emphasised that the ethics of texts in terms of originality and copyright compliance is not only the ‘face’ of an individual scientist, but also of an affiliated institution.
During her internship, the Associate Professor took part in the final conference of the OK 3.0 project (September 2023), which was led by the Centre for European and International Criminal Law Studies (ZEIS). OK 3.0 is a project in Germany aimed at researching organised crime through an interdisciplinary approach and engaging academics and practitioners to assess key threats and find innovative solutions to fight organised crime. The presentations and fruitful discussions covered the most controversial and complex issues in the study of organised crime, offering evidence-based analysis and a comprehensive vision of the extent to which and through what policies it is possible to exert a preventive influence on organised crime in the context of its current trends and rapid transformations.
‘As an external expert of the project, I am proud to be involved in this think tank that promotes the ideas of integrity of theory and practice on the way to sustainable development through state and public security,’ T. Melnychuk.
The associate professor's participation in a 24-hour continuous online conference on global organised crime, which brought together more than 300 experts from all over the world in 68 sessions (October 2023), was also unique in its kind.
The promotion of the research and ideas of the Odesa School of Law has attracted the attention of the foreign specialised press. The Associate Professor was interviewed for the publication ‘Policing Insight’ (England and Wales) ‘Dr Tetiana Melnychuk: “Preparations for the restoration of law and order after the war in Ukraine need to be made now”, 6 November 2023. https://policinginsight.com/feature/interview/dr-tetiana-melnychuk-preparations-for-the-restoration-of-law-and-order-after-the-war-in-ukraine-need-to-be-made-now/
Such internships and visits to foreign educational and research institutions are an opportunity to immerse yourself in the university atmosphere on the basis of a full partnership with fruitful achievements for both parties, providing the potential to develop, improve and promote best academic practices.