Ukrainian researchers at SFISM
On 1 June 2022, Viktoriia Nagorna and Artur Mytko started working at the Swiss Federal Institute of Sport Magglingen (SFISM). They come from Kyiv in Ukraine and are both contributing to the "DigitalTwin" research being conducted by the Performance Sport section, a project funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF).
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Viktoriia Nagorna, Associate Professor of Physical Education and Sport at the National University of Ukraine in Kyiv, and post-doc sports scientist Artur Mytko are two of around 100 researchers who have left their homeland as a result of the war there and are now working on existing research projects at Swiss universities. The SNSF made an additional 9 million francs of funding available for this, which has already been used up.
And now they are here: Viktoriia and Artur, amiably willing to share their story. If it were not for the fact that war was raging in their country right now, they would of course still be living in Kyiv and teaching and conducting research at the National University of Ukraine. The two researchers are married and have three children, and are currently getting to grips with living in Switzerland as refugees with protection status S, the mountain of paperwork that entails, and surmounting the bureaucratic hurdles involved – and all in a foreign language. They have their hands full with moving into an apartment, looking after their children and organising schools and kindergartens for them, finding their feet in the project, keeping in touch with their friends and relatives back home, and much more besides. They are very grateful for the amount of support they are receiving in Switzerland and here in Magglingen, and for the opportunity to continue working as researchers.
The road to Switzerland
Three weeks after war broke out and Kyiv was bombarded, the family hastily fled to Latvia in their car together with Viktoriia's mother and sister. Following a tip-off from a relative, they contacted the Bern University of Applied Sciences which had set up a website with a list of job opportunities specifically for Ukrainian refugees. This list also included the two current SNSF-supported projects at SFISM – "DigitalTwin" and "Mental Health". Viktoriia and Artur submitted their applications, and Head of Performance Sport Silvio Lorenzetti got in touch with them both shortly thereafter. And so it was that they came to Switzerland.
Wide research background
Viktoriia and Artur are multi-talented: Ukrainian pool billiard champions themselves, they also coach the Ukrainian national team, which is all but impossible at the moment. Many players have likewise fled the country and are scattered all over Europe. What drives Viktoriia and Artur is the relationship between theory and practice: as sports scientists, former elite athletes and now coaches, they are keen to transfer their own research findings into their coaching activities. Their focus is on training management and optimisation, the female-specific aspects of performance levels and their monitoring, as well as physical and mental aspects. While talking to them it becomes clear what a wealth of knowledge and great commitment these two researchers want to bring to the existing DigitalTwin project. There are sure to be stimulating professional exchanges beyond the project as well. Viktoriia and Artur: laskavo prosymo – welcome to the SFISM!
The SNSF DigitalTwin project
The goal of the DigitalTwin research project is to increase the efficiency and safety of strength training through the development and validation of biomechanical computer models and mobile measurement techniques. The 4-year project is being funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), and the Sports technology unit is working together with the Institute for Biomechanics (IfB) at ETH Zurich and the Swiss Center for Musculoskeletal Imaging (SCMI), Balgrist Campus Zurich. Further information.