Scientists from Ukraine and Afghanistan conduct research at the University of Münster
The University of Münster is engaged in supporting academics at risk who are no longer able to work in their home countries due to persecution or violence. Münster University's application in the last round of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation's Philipp Schwartz Initiative was successful. With funding of 350,490 euros, four threatened researchers can now continue their careers in different research groups for 18 to 24 months at Münster University. Nationwide, 20 scholarships were awarded. At a ceremony in the Alexander von Humboldt House, Prof. Dr. Michael Quante, Vice-Rector for International Affairs, Transfer and Sustainability, presented the certificates to a researcher from Afghanistan and three researchers from Ukraine. "Academic freedom is a valuable good and as Münster University we are committed to helping researchers at risk and their families. Together with the faculties, we support those affected," Michael Quante emphasises, "in doing so, it is important to us that they have a successful and pleasant time, both professionally and privately."
This year, the grant goes to Afghan Dr. Emal Wali, who will have the opportunity to conduct research in the working group of Prof. Dr. Otto Klemm of the Institute of Landscape Ecology in the field of water management, agriculture and remote sensing. Three other scholarship holders from Ukraine are also continuing their work at Münster University. The lawyer Dr. Dariia Opryshko is researching the following questions: What possibilities does the law offer to contain disinformation in armed conflicts and what need for harmonisation exists in Ukrainian media law with regard to rapprochement with the European Union? She works in the team of Prof. Dr. Bernd Holznagel and Jan Kalbhenn of the Institute for Information, Telecommunications and Media Law. The physicists Dr. Andrey Iljin and Dr. Oleksandr Sobol will be conducting research at the Faculty of Physics. Andrey Ilyin works on the topic of light propagation at the Institute of Applied Physics with Dr. Jörg Imbrock and Oleksandr Sobol researches theoretical particle physics and cosmology at the Institute of Theoretical Physics with Prof. Dr. Kai Schmitz.
The Philipp Schwartz Initiative was launched by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation together with the German Federal Foreign Office. It enables universities, universities of applied science, and independent research institutions to grant threatened researchers fellowships for research stays in Germany. At Münster University, the Welcome Centre of the International Office is responsible for the central coordination of the funding programme. It also offers researchers additional support measures.