Support for researchers at risk: Philipp Schwartz Forum in Berlin

Anywhere the space for academic and scientific freedom, civil society and democracy shrinks, researchers are among the first to come under pressure. Researchers and scholars who are subject to significant personal threat in their country of origin can continue their work in Germany with the help of a fellowship from the Humboldt Foundation’s Philipp Schwartz Initiative. Threatened researchers from Ukraine are being supported through the MSCA4Ukraine programme in Germany and other European countries. 

The Humboldt Foundation is hosting the Philipp Schwartz Forum in Berlin to offer networking opportunities to researchers at risk and all those supporting them, whether on a local, national or international level. Researchers who are at risk in their countries will report on their experiences in order to provide researchers and individuals who are politically active in Germany and Europe first-hand information and impetus to protect academic and scientific freedom and ensure institutional support for threatened researchers. 

Two-day networking event

On the first day of the forum, researchers from Turkey and Belarus will report on repression in their native countries and how they have made and are currently making a stand against it. In addition, researchers from Turkey, Ukraine and Venezuela will share strategies for organising and developing career paths after fellowships end. Another focus will be on the exchange of information about the current situation of the science system in Syria.

The second day will feature workshops on career planning, mental health and dealing with digital forms of transnational repression. 

Journalists are welcome to attend! To attend, please register by 1 April 2025 by e-mail to presse[at]avh.de. We will be pleased to arrange interviews. Please note that taking photos is not permitted in order to protect participants. The Humboldt Foundation will make official photos taken on 3 April avalaible after the event. The conference will be held in English. Selected events will be streamed live on the internet.

Excerpt from the programme: 

Thursday, 3 April 2025 – Langenbeck Virchow House

2:00 p.m.: Opening and Welcome 

• Robert Schlögl, President of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation
• Christina Gehlsen, Head of the International Science Policy Division, Federal Foreign Office

2:45 p.m.: Repression and Resistance – Feminist Perspectives on the Fight for Democracy and Academic Freedom in Turkey and Belarus 

• Olga Shparaga (Belarus), Philipp Schwartz Fellow, University of Vienna/ FernUniversität Hagen 
• Nil Mutluer (Turkey), Philipp Schwartz Alumna, Leipzig University

4:00 p.m.: Poster Session

5:00 p.m.: Rebuilding Successful Career Paths 

• Jeff Wilkesmann (Venezuela), Philipp Schwartz Alumnus, Technische Hochschule Deggendorf 
• Halina Falfushynska (Ukraine), Philipp Schwartz Alumna, Anhalt University of Applied Sciences/ENERTRAG SE 
• Pınar Şenoğuz (Turkey), Philipp Schwartz Alumna, TH Köln/University of Applied Sciences 
• Anne Schreiter (Germany), Guidance, Skills & Opportunities for Researchers (GSO)

6: p.m.: Spotlight on the State of the Academic System in Syria 

• Tina Zintl, German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS)
• Musallam Abedtalas, Philipp Schwartz Alumnus, IDOS 
• Rana Alsalim, Philipp Schwartz Alumna
• Hani Harb, German-Syrian Research Society (DSFG)

Friday, 4 April 2025 – Humboldt Universität Berlin

From 9:15 a.m.: Thematic Workshops and Coaching Workshops for Fellows: Rebuilding Your Career

2:00 p.m.: German and European Funding Opportunities for Researchers at Risk 

• Marija Fedotovaite, Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture, European Commission
• Mechthild Köhler, International Affairs, German Science Foundation
• Franziska Kothe, Project Manager Operative Programmes, Gerda Henkel Foundation
• Oksana Seumenicht, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation

From 3:00 p.m.: Post-Forum, Group and Networking Meetings 

The Philipp Schwartz Initiative was established by the Humboldt Foundation and Germany’s Federal Foreign Office in 2015. It receives additional funding from foundations in Germany and abroad. In addition, the EU-funded MSCA4Ukraine programme has been offering funding for researchers from Ukraine since 2022. 

Every year, the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation enables more than 2,000 researchers from all over the world to spend time conducting research in Germany. The Foundation maintains an interdisciplinary network of well over 30,000 Humboldtians in more than 140 countries around the world – including 61 Nobel Prize winners.