Many refugees from Ukraine are expected to reach Germany. Out of these, approximately 100,000 people alone will be from the field of science. At the universities of applied sciences, we are preparing to host a large number of students, teachers and researchers. With our practical orientation, our international study programs and cooperation and building on the experiences of 2015, we can offer them short-term solutions and – if desired – a long-term connection to the German labor market. In addition, we will use the possibilities of digitalization to support universities in Ukraine as well as to create Ukrainian-German platforms, for example for joint teaching. In particular, the latter can also be an offer to scientists and science managers whose incorporation on a large scale poses different challenges to universities than that of students.

We are counting on the federal and state governments to provide the necessary funds to support students and researchers from Ukraine and to provide appropriate assistance in a timely and unbureaucratic manner.

The Russian attack on Ukraine concerns us all. We call on all university members to participate in peaceful demonstrations for peace, freedom and democracy. We ask for donations to support the Ukrainian people. We call for regular information on reputable sources and not to disseminate inappropriate messages, images or videos. We stand by our responsibility for a peaceful, free world and for a knowledge-based worldview. Our universities are and remain non-discriminatory and cosmopolitan places of diversity. We call for respectful treatment of people from the Russian Federation. We pay great tribute to those who are taking a strong personal stance against this war. We would like to thank all universities and university staff who have shown solidarity with Ukraine and the refugees arriving in Germany in recent days, who have maintained contact with our partner universities and who are prepared to remain permanently committed.

The joint website of the universities of applied sciences informs about current offers of the individual institutions www.unglaublich-wichtig.de (only available in German). In addition, the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) coordinates the nationwide support services of all universities via its websites.

"Our world is facing major challenges that we can only tackle together; for that we need peace and international cooperation," explains Science Minister Angela Dorn. "Putin's appalling attack on Ukraine is an attack on freedom in Europe, which also threatens our European partner countries in the Baltic. The brutal repression of dissenting opinions in Russia and Belarus, but also the situation in Hong Kong or the Taliban's seizure of power in Afghanistan show us that, in a growing number of countries worldwide, freedom of expression and thus freedom of science are under threat. Researchers are fired, prosecuted, convicted. That is why we are expanding our scholarship program HessenFonds, which has been in place since 2016, in the spring of 2022 to include doctoral candidates and researchers persecuted in their home country."

p>”Faced with Russia's military aggression, we are all called upon to support Ukrainian civil society and, with it, democracy and the liberal values on which science is founded. The Hessian universities are in contact with their Ukrainian students and lecturers in science. We want to accompany them with offers of help. Therefore, the Conference of the Hessian Universities' Central Administrations, the Hessian Universities of Applied Sciences and the Conference of the Art Universities' Central Administrations are very grateful that the State of Hessen has now immediately expanded the helpful and proven instrument HessenFonds," explain the spokespersons of the three organizations, Prof. Dr. Tanja Brühl (KHU/TU Darmstadt), Prof. Dr. Frank Dievernich (HAW/Frankfurt UAS) and Prof. Bernd Kracke (Kunsthochschulen/HfG Offenbach).

The Hessian Ministry for Science and the Arts has been supporting highly qualified students, doctoral students and scientists who have come to Germany as refugees since 2016 through the HessenFonds. As of this year, in addition to persons with asylum or refugee status, universities can also nominate doctoral candidates and doctoral researchers who are still in their country of origin or a third country and who are threatened there for political, religious or ethnic reasons, for example. Hessian universities can enable them to continue their scientific activities and at the same time integrate them into their own research projects.

Due to the dramatic events following the Taliban's seizure of power in Afghanistan in August 2021, the Ministry for Science and the Arts conducted an additional selection round last year specifically for researchers from Afghanistan who are particularly threatened by the Taliban. Here, five doctoral candidates nominated by universities in Hesse received a grant. "Of course, this opportunity also exists for persecuted scientists and doctoral candidates from Ukraine or those who have fled from Belarus to Ukraine," says Dorn. "In this way, we not only help the persecuted researchers, but also support universities in establishing new collaborations with highly qualified researchers. We thus contribute to the sustainable internationalization of Hessian universities."