UNICA and Sapienza University of Rome webinar “Supporting students and scholars at risk: efforts and good practices of UNICA and CIVIS universities”

in cooperation with CIVIS

On August 22nd, UNICA joined other international higher education associations in the appeal addressed to European Governments and EU Institutions, to take action for Afghanistan’s scholars, researchers, and civil society actors, launched by Scholars at Risk (SAR).
According to the UNHCR, access to university education and research is a fundamental part of the protection and the inclusion strategy of a refugee. How do universities react to this situation and how should they address the challenge?

Watch the webinar now:

In this webinar, Denise Roche, Advocacy Manager at SAR Europe, gave a keynote speech to inspire reflection and action on this issue. Denise is currently leading the European Action for Academic Freedom project to expand, coordinate and support advocacy in Europe to promote academic freedom.
After the keynote speech, representatives of UNICA members and of the CIVIS alliance shared good practices and experiences to inspire and motivate other colleagues and universities.

Presentations

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Useful links and information from the webinar

Science in Exile initiative

• Science in Exile website: www.twas.org/science-exile-initiative
• You can subscribe to the Science in Exile newsletter at https://forms.office.com/r/xqUGG0H61f
• Webinar series: information at https://twas.org/sites/default/files/sie_webinar_series_flyer_total.pdf  and watch the webinars on www.youtube.com/user/twasvideos
• You can listen to the Science in Exile Podcast series at https://council.science/podcast/
• Organizations supporting at-risk, displaced and refugee scientists can complete the Science in Exile mapping survey: https://forms.office.com/r/jStF1EBj1Z
• Links to PhD and Postdoc opportunities (please remember to check the links later today, as they are not live yet!): PHD: https://twas.org/opportunity/twas-comstech-science-exile-phd-fellowship-programme-displaced-and-refugee-scientists – Postdoctoral: https://twas.org/opportunity/twas-comstech-science-exile-postdoctoral-fellowship-programme-displaced-and-refugee

Scholars at Risk

• Free to Think 2021 is the 7th installment of an annual report by Scholars at Risk’s Academic Freedom Monitoring Project. The report analyzes 332 attacks on higher education communities in 65 countries and territories around the world between September 1, 2020 and August 31, 2021. Free to Think 2021 can be found here: https://www.scholarsatrisk.org/resources/free-to-think-2021/
• On December 9, 2021 SAR held a virtual symposium marking the release of the report. There were sessions on Myanmar, Afghanistan, Belarus, and the US. You can access all the sessions here: https://sites.google.com/myassociationhq.com/sars2021
• In September 2021, Inspireurope held an information session for higher education institutions and other employers across Europe. This webinar focused on institutional representatives and questions about how to go about hosting a scholar and about the availability of external funding to support such positions. The audio file of the webinar is now up on our website and may be accessed here: https://maynoothuniversity.ie/sar-europe/inspireurope/webinars

• Two reports produced by the SAR Europe coordinated, European Union funded Inspireurope project – which brings together 10 partners across Europe to coordinate activities in support of researchers at risk: Researchers at Risk: Mapping Europe’s Response (Nov 2020), led by the European University Association, documenting the excellent work already underway in Europe for researchers at risk, as well as gaps and opportunities for future support; Researchers at Risk: National-Level Actions in Europe (Aug 2021), led by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation’s Philipp Schwartz Initiative and the PAUSE Programme. The report gathers the experiences of 14 national-level initiatives in Europe supporting researchers at risk. The aim is to share knowledge and insights between those already involved in these efforts, and to encourage the development of new national-level initiatives.

Université libre de Bruxelles

• Appel pour les chercheurs en danger Afghans (deadline: 10.01.2022): bourses postdoctorales pour chercheur.e.s afghan.ne.s UCLOUVAIN-ULB en toutes disciplines: https://www.ulb.be/fr/international/appel-pour-les-chercheurs-en-danger-afghans

University College Dublin

• For students interested in UCD student scheme, the details are at www.ucd.ie/all

• Information about UCD’s Sanctuary Programme for students: https://www.ucd.ie/all/cometoucd/financialsupport/scholarships/sanctuaryprogramme/