In the current context of higher education transformation, continuous professional development of academic staff is no longer merely a recommendation but a formal requirement of educational standards and a key criterion of the National Agency for Higher Education Quality Assurance. Regular updating of professional competencies, mastery of digital tools, and adoption of new approaches to teaching and research have become essential prerequisites for ensuring the quality of the educational process and maintaining academic integrity. Accordingly, during the first semester of the 2025–2026 academic year, the academic staff of the Department of Management and Public Administration actively participated in various professional development activities.

An important collective step in this direction was the completion by the department’s lecturers of the short-term December programme “The Use of Artificial Intelligence in the Educational Process” which focused on the application of artificial intelligence tools in teaching, the preparation of educational materials, and the organisation of the learning process in compliance with the principles of academic integrity.

Given the rapidly growing role of artificial intelligence in academic and educational activities, Inna Kantsur and Nataliia Martynovych joined the course “Science × AI: A New Paradigm” in November 2025, organised by the NGO Prohresylni. A distinctive feature of this course was the involvement of practitioners and researchers who demonstrated the applied advantages of artificial intelligence for scientific analysis and research preparation, offering an alternative perspective on its integration in the context of digital transformation.

At the same time, the professional development of the teaching staff was not limited to joint educational initiatives. The development trajectory of each lecturer was shaped in accordance with their specific research interests. Thus, Professor O. Suntsova and Associate Professors N. Martynovych and I. Kantsur regularly participated in events organised by the non-profit initiative of the Academy of the Kyiv International Economic Forum (Ukrainian Governance Forum), implemented under the auspices of the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine and recognised by the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine and NAQA. These events addressed issues relevant to contemporary public administration, business administration, and Ukraine’s economic development. The thematic scope covered Ukraine’s European integration as a systemic project with corresponding programmes and implementation instruments, economic engineering and mechanisms for multiple GDP growth, the challenges of new industrialisation and export breakthroughs, as well as international cooperation and unlocking the technological potential of Ukrainian manufacturing businesses.

Professor O. Vasylieva expanded her professional horizons through participation in a programme focused on contemporary governance and archetypes of public administration. O. Nemyrovska concentrated on issues related to pedagogical internships and practical tools for the professional development of lecturers.

Taken together, this multidirectional yet conceptually coherent activity demonstrates the deliberate development by the academic staff of the Department of Management and Public Administration of both individual and collective professional development trajectories. These trajectories are aligned with current requirements of state educational policy, European quality standards, and the real challenges associated with the transformation of public administration and the economy of Ukraine.