Yulia's Dream in the Media

Yulia’s Dream is a free math enrichment and research program for exceptional high school students (grades 9-11) from Ukraine.

Yulia’s Dream is dedicated to the memory of Yulia Zdanovska, a 21-year-old graduate of the National University of Kyiv, a silver medalist at the 2017 European Girls' Mathematical Olympiad, and a teacher for the “Teach for Ukraine” program who was killed by a Russian-fired missile in her home city of Kharkiv. We hope to help other Ukrainian boys and girls fulfill her dream.

“Yulia’s Dream” to support young, at-risk Ukrainian students of mathematics (MIT News, March 30, 2022)

Quote: “I saw reports of her tragic death, and she immediately reminded me of our typical PRIMES students — passionate about math, successful in competitions, choosing a math major in college, and willing to teach others,” says [PRIMES Director Slava] Gerovitch. “I felt an emotional connection, and I think others feel it too.” He and mathematics professor Pavel Etingof, the chief research advisor of PRIMES, were moved to honor her with their PRIMES program.

Interview with Pavel Etingof (WBUR Morning Edition, March 24, 2022) (audio)

NPR Reporter: MIT is offering a program to provide exceptional high school students in Ukraine and those who have fled the country a chance to study advanced mathematics. Pavel Etingof is a mathematics professor at MIT.
Pavel Etingof: The goal is after the war, Ukraine needs to be rebuilt and we want it to be become an advanced European country. This requires a lot of young people who know math, who are good with science, especially researchers, and we want to help build that pipeline.
NPR Reporter: The program is called “Yulia’s Dream.” It’s named for a 21 year old math scholar and teacher killed in a Russian missile attack in Kharkiv.

Marcus Ermler, Putin kann Yulias Traum nicht zerstören [Putin cannot destroy Yulia's dream] (achgut.com, March 26, 2023)

Siobhan Roberts, In Ukraine, Mathematics Offers Strength in Numbers (The New York Times, September 12, 2023)

Math program promotes global community for at-risk Ukrainian high schoolers (MIT News, July 17, 2024)

Quotes:
Program participant Nazar Korniichuk: “On the one hand, it was very difficult, because in certain periods there was no electricity and no water. There was always stress and uncertainty about tomorrow. But on the other hand, because there was a war, it motivated me to do mathematics even more, especially during periods when there was no electricity or water.”
Program participant Sophia Breslavets: “Yulia’s Dream was a great thing to happen to me personally, because in the beginning, when the war was just starting, I didn't know what to do. This was just a great thing to take your mind off of what's going on outside your window, and you can just kind of get yourself into that and know that you have some work to do, and that was huge.”

To support Yulia’s Dream, we need your help! Please send a check to:
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
P. O. Box 412926
Boston, MA 02241-2926
Make the check out to "MIT" and in the memo field put "Yulia's Dream for PRIMES fund # 3653720."
Or, you can just click on the button below and choose "PRIMES Endowed Fund in Mathematics (3653720)" and designate your contribution “in memory of Yulia Zdanovska.”
We appreciate your support!