Science without borders: Ukrainian scientists in the face of Russian aggression

 

The research is goaled at assessing the needs of Ukrainian scientists after 24.02.2022 and conceptualising their copings strategies in a time of war. The project aims to answer the following questions: how scientists who left the country are realising their research/didactic potential in new places of living, if and how they combine new tasks with the work at the Ukrainian universities. In indirect manner the research will also attempt to examine how Ukrainian scientific resources operate in times of war, in particular in the context of temporary emigration of a considerable group of researchers.

Specific questions posed by the project are:
1) what were the main motives for leaving and further staying abroad;
2) what methods of solving problems related to the war are used by Ukrainian scientists;
3) whether and how they combine work in the target country with work in Ukrainian educational and scientific institutions;
4) what are their plans for the future.

Before the beginning of Russian aggression against Ukraine in February 2022, about 65 thousand of scientists and 35 thousand of support staff worked in Ukrainian universities and research institutions (data of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine). Due to military attacks, destruction of infrastructure, occupation and persecution, several thousand of them were forced to flee, others were forced to move inside and to the western territory of the country. Those who remain in Ukrainian institutions work remotely; often in life-threatening conditions and facing material problems.

This project is of qualitative character (focusing on interviews with Ukrainian scientists) and builds on a previous study conducted in the summer of 2022, which aimed to obtain reliable first-hand information about the professional challenges and expectations regarding support measures for Ukrainian researchers who left Ukraine after the Russian invasion on February 24, 2022. The results will serve as empirical evidence for the planning of support programmes for Ukrainian scientists by academic and funding institutions and will help to meet their research needs by providing information scientific disciplines and career stages of scientists, as well as on the specific professional and life challenges they face

Duration

2022 - 2023

Source of funding

"Initiative of Excellence - Research University" ("New Idea-Ukraine" call)

Publications