War in Ukraine: Information and measures

Package of measures to protect researchers

The focus here is on supporting threatened researchers and scholars from the Ukraine:
To help sponsorship recipients from Ukraine, the Humboldt Foundation is offering special arrangements for alumni stays and fellowship extensions. Contact for Humboldtians and hosts via Division 3.3 (Europe): Dr Rebecca Großmann or Ms. Bianca Müller

• bianca.mueller[at]avh.de
• rebecca.grossmann[at]avh.de

Advisory services for first time applicants (all regular scholarships)
If you have not previously been funded by the Humboldt Foundation and would like to apply for a research fellowship for the first time, please contact our advisory team:

• Advisory Service and people to contact according to programme

Protection and assistance provided through the Philipp Schwartz Initiative

As a rule, researchers who are at risk are offered a safe haven through the Philipp Schwartz Initiative. In the last application round in March, the nomination procedure was simplified for researchers from Ukraine and the deadline was extended at short notice.

The Philipp Schwartz Emergency Fund for researchers and scholars who have recently fled Ukraine will finance an emergency assistance programme that will make it possible for universities and research institutes in Germany to take in displaced researchers for up to six months. The short-term fellowships provided via this fund will cover the recipient’s living expenses and give them time to initiate longer-term follow-on sponsorships. The Carl Zeiss Foundation and the research publishing company Springer Nature Group have contributed a total of €750,000 to finance the Philipp Schwartz Emergency Fund. Approximately 40 female researchers and their families will be financed thanks to these contributions to the endowment capital of the Philipp Schwartz Initiative.

German researchers who are willing to make research positions available for researchers at risk have been able to register with the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation since mid-March. Further measures are being prepared.

• Philipp Schwartz Initiative for researchers at risk
• Special provisions Ukraine (PDF, 78 KB)
• schwartz-initiative[at]avh.de

Information for researchers from Russia and Belarus
Institutional and material exchange with Russia has been suspended. Individual communication will continue. For the Foundation, science is and continues to be an instrument for dialogue and diplomacy.

Funding for institutional cooperation with Russia and for conferences in Russia has been suspended until further notice. Alumni in Russia currently cannot receive material support such as book donations or equipment subsidies. The Foundation seeks to offer sponsorship recipients from Russia who are at threat due to their critical stance on the war an opportunity for a stay in Germany through an alumni sponsorship or an extension of their fellowship. Fellowship applications (except for the Chancellor Fellowship programme) from Russia can be submitted for the time being. They will however be rigorously assessed on the basis of proliferation criteria. This also applies to fellowships that have already begun. All the measures taken currently also apply to Belarus.

Fellowships for German researchers
Fellowships for German postdoctoral researchers and experienced researchers (Feodor Lynen Research Fellowship) who want to conduct research in Ukraine, Russia or Belarus have been suspended.

Reactions and statements from the Foundation and the Humboldt Network

• Press release: Researchers who have fled Ukraine - Foundation requests additional state funding and securs private donors, 08.04.2022
• Press release: Philipp Schwartz Initiative sets up emergency fund for ukrainian using private contributions, 31.03.2022
• Interview: Humboldt Research Fellow Dmytro Leontyev from Kharkiv on the situation in his home country, on solidarity and prospects for collaboration, 4 March 2022
• Press release: Humboldt Foundation launches package of measures in response to the war against Ukraine, 3 March 2022
• Interview: The Foundation’s Ambassador Scientist in Russia, Yuri Kovalev, condemns the war, 2 March 2022
• Statement issued by the Alliance of Science Organisations in Germany, 25 February 2022
• Press release: Humboldt Foundation condemns attack on Ukraine (first statement by the President of the Humboldt Foundation), 24 February 2022

Further offers of assitance for Ukrainian scientists

• Humboldt Foundation: List of individuals, who want to enable researchers threatened by the war in Ukraine to work at an institute in Germany
• German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD): Current measures und advisory services
• DAAD: Collection of support opportunities - also for doctoral candidates and students
• #ScienceForUkraine: expanding collection of support opportunities at universities
• Scholars at Risk Network: Resources for at-risk individuals from Ukraine
• ERA4Ukraine: Support opportunities for Ukrainians at the European level gathered via Euraxess

Official information on current developments

• Current information on the situation in Ukraine (German Foreign Office)
• Travel warning Ukraine (German Foreign Office)
• Important information for German citizens in Russia (German Foreign Office)
• Current information on the situation in Russia (German Foreign Office)
• Reaction of Minster Stark-Watzinger (Federal Ministery of Education and Research)