On February 26, 2026, the Academic Council of the University approved the report on the results of the research project carried out by the Department of History of Ukraine, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, entitled “Early Stages of Urbanization in Ancient Societies Based on Archaeological Sources” (registration number: 0121U110186; implementation period: March 30, 2021 – March 30, 2026). The results of the research were presented by the project leader, Mykhailo Yuriiovych Videiko, Professor of the Department of History of Ukraine, Doctor of Science in History, Senior Research Fellow.

The research was conducted in three principal areas in cooperation with Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel (CAU) (Germany) and educational and research institutions of the Republic of Moldova. At the first stage, based on the systematization and analysis of archaeological sources, it was established that the onset of urbanization processes within the physical and geographical area of present-day Ukraine dates to the second half of the 5th millennium BC. At the second stage, it was determined that urbanization processes were closely linked to the development of agrarian and other production technologies as well as to demographic dynamics. At the third stage, it was demonstrated that urbanization was not an irreversible phenomenon; rather, over the past six thousand years, the population within the physical and geographical area of Ukraine has undergone multiple phases of urbanization and deurbanization, conditioned by climatic changes and historical events.
During the implementation of the project, the following activities were carried out: 1) continuation of field research at urban sites of various historical periods;
2) investigation of the economic and technological development of urban centres from the 5th–4th millennia BCE to the 17th century;
3) archaeometric and experimental studies aimed at examining and reconstructing ancient production technologies, including the identification of new evidence of long-distance metal trade and the use of organic fertilizers in cereal cultivation;
4) development of teaching and methodological materials for conducting field and laboratory archaeological research;
5) integration of research findings into academic courses, exhibitions, museum displays, and the museumification of investigated sites;
6) dissemination of research results among urban communities in Ukraine.
During the project period, the following scholarly outputs were produced: 34 academic articles, including 21 publications indexed in Scopus and Web of Science (among them 7 in Q1 journals); 2 single-authored and 5 collective monographs; 14 chapters in collective monographs; 3 textbooks and electronic educational courses; 21 conference abstracts; 34 presentations at international conferences; and 14 research reports prepared with the participation of 78 students at various levels of higher education. Within the framework of the project, M.Videiko prepared a dissertation entitled “Trepol–Trypillia: The Dynamics of Historical Topography of City in the 11th–17th Centuries” for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.
As a result of the project implementation, syllabi of academic disciplines were updated, and new educational components were developed and introduced into the revised Educational and Professional Program of the first (Bachelor’s) level within the selective block “Historical Urban Studies”, as well as into the Educational and Scientific Program of the second (Master’s) level “Historical Urban Studies and Archaeology”.
Scientific achievements are presented at exhibitions, museum expositions, and in the process of museumification of researched objects. A number of state and public educational events have also been held, including: nominations of the Cucuteni-Trypillia cultural complex, which were included in the UNESCO World Heritage List; the development of a model of the chronicle city of Trepol; holding of 14 master classes on the production of Trypillian culture statuettes in the village of Trypillia and the city of Kyiv, as well as at Grinchenko University; participation in VR projects to reconstruct Trypillia culture settlements; recreation of the interior of a Trypillia culture dwelling in the Agroland Ethnopark (Ternopil region); presentations at the School of Modern Expert at the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities; presentation of a thematic issue of the Antikvar magazine at the Ukrainian Independent News Agency; promotion of scientific research results on social media.