Global Recognition for Our School: Inna Afanasieva Wins the STEM Excellence Award 2026

We are incredibly proud to share the success of our colleague! On August 24–25, at the IAEA Headquarters in Vienna, Austria, during the Technical Meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on educational networks, the winners of the prestigious ENEN STEM Excellence Award for Secondary School Teachers 2026 were honored in a special award ceremony!

This year’s competition was won by an Associate Professor of the Department of Applied Physics and Plasma Physics of the Education and Research Institute “School of Physics and Technology,” who also teaches school students at the Karazin University Lyceum!

What earned Inna Afanasieva international recognition?

An international panel of experts highly praised her significant contribution to science outreach, the development of STEM education, and support for Ukrainian school students even under the most challenging conditions:

• Leadership in European projects: leading a student team that became a finalist in the 4th European Nuclear Competition and participating in a science camp in Bologna, Italy.
• Development of nuclear education: participating in the international Nurecab initiative (EURATOM / Horizon Europe) and organizing the 2024 and 2025 Summer Schools of Nuclear Physics for high school students.
• Authorship of national educational programs: co-authoring the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine-approved model curriculum “Natural Sciences (Grades 10–11).”
• Implementation of PhET simulations: conducting training sessions for teachers and creating a series of video lessons and original digital tools for virtual laboratory work.
• Educational resilience: conducting interactive experiments for children at Kharkiv’s metro school and underground shelters, as well as organizing traveling STEM demonstrations in frontline and de-occupied communities of Kharkiv Region.
• Mentoring and science outreach: preparing winners of the Junior Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, delivering public lectures and career guidance events, and publishing more than 70 original methodological resources for Ukrainian educators!

We sincerely congratulate Inna on this well-deserved international recognition! Thank you for your dedication to science, resilience, inspiration of young people, and for strengthening the reputation of the Education and Research Institute “School of Physics and Technology” on the international stage. We wish you new scientific achievements, inspiration, and many more victories!