Support Scholars Affected by the Russian Aggression in Ukraine
Open Letter from Russian-Speaking Academic Diaspora
The ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine has led to a major humanitarian crisis. At the time of this writing, March 19, 2022, more than 3 million Ukrainians, including 1 million children, have fled to neighboring countries to escape the war. The remaining population of about 40 million is under direct attack. They need our immediate support!
Russian citizens who oppose the war are subject to arrest and persecution; over two hundred thousand are estimated to have already left their country. Many citizens of Belarus have left their own country for similar reasons.
The war has inflicted immeasurable pain on the scholarly community in Ukraine and devastation on Russian and Belarusian academics.
Support displaced Ukrainian students and scholars
In addition to offering moral support to our Ukrainian colleagues, we strive to provide them with access to laboratories and research centers across the globe. Some members of the international academic community have offered to host Ukrainian colleagues in their research facilities. The Russian academic diaspora has joined this effort, but more should be done. By supporting the careers of displaced students and scholars, we can take a tangible part in promoting the rapid rebuilding of post-war Ukraine and mitigating the socio-economic impacts of this war.
Emergency funding is needed to enable participating laboratories and research centers across the EU, US, Canada, Japan, South Korea, and other countries to provide on-site and remote training and job opportunities for displaced students and scholars from Ukraine. Some have been displaced, together with their dependents and close relatives, young and old, and we need immediate solutions to keep their families together. Concerted efforts should be made without delay to create short and long-term fellowships and to provide visa support, rapid immigration procedures, and travel assistance.
Support Russian and Belarusian students and scholars
We need to distinguish between the sanctions on the Russian government and how we treat Russian students and scholars who oppose the war. The war in Ukraine is Putin’s war, not theirs. People in the sciences and the humanities have consistently opposed Putin’s repressive regime in multiple ways since long before the current events and many have taken a brave stance against the war. Anti-war protesters in Russia, mostly young professionals, are being arrested and can be imprisoned for up to 15 years under a recently enacted Russian law.
With the growing suppression of free speech in Russia and the impact of Western sanctions, anti-war Russian students and scholars are in double jeopardy. The same applies to Belarusian scholars suffering under the Lukashenko regime.
Some of these scholars remain in their countries; others have chosen to flee. We strongly encourage all our colleagues to keep their individual connections to Russian and Belarusian professionals who oppose the war but cannot leave the country for various reasons. As for those fleeing Russia and Belarus in fear of state persecution, they qualify for refugee status and need support from academe and governments.
We call on the international academic community to commit our time and effort to support Ukrainian, Russian, and Belarussian scholars affected by this war. Together we must help those in need to continue their work and education and ultimately build a better future for their countries and humankind. If you want to support the call made on behalf of the Russian-speaking academic diaspora, even if you do not speak Russian, you can add your signature using the google form: https://forms.gle/Bo2Ppa9Lgrr96sQf8.
Natalia Berloff, mathematician, University of Cambridge, UK
Michail Bezrodnyj, philologist, University of Heidelberg, Germany
Alexandra Boltasseva, electrical engineer, Purdue University, USA
Mark Borodovsky, computational biologist, Georgia Tech, USA
Tatiana Bronich, chemist, Northeastern University, USA
Dmitry Bykov, writer, Cornell University, USA
Maria Chekhova, physicist, Max-Planck Institute for the Science of Light, Germany
Leonid Chernomordik, biologist, National Institutes of Health, USA
Yury Chernoff, biologist, Georgia Institute of Technology, USA
Konstantin Chumakov, Director, Global Virus Network Center of Excellence, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, USA
Alexander Dizhoor, neuroscientist, Salus University, USA
Irina Dubinina, slavic scholar, Brandeis University, USA
Igor Efimov, biophysicist, George Washington University, USA
Grigori Enikolopov, neurobiologist, Stony Brook University, USA
Sergei Erofeev, sociologist, Rutgers University, USA, Polish Institute of Advanced Studies, Poland
Pavel Etingof, mathematician, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA
Alexander Etkind, historian, European University, Italy
Mikhail Epstein, cultural scholar, Emory University, USA
Valery Fokin, chemist, University of Southern California, USA
Andre Geim, physicist, University of Manchester, UK
Vadim Gladyshev, biochemist, Harvard University, USA
Yury Gogotsi, materials scientist, Drexel University, USA
Dmitry Gordenin, geneticist, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, NIH
Andrei Gudkov, oncology researcher, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, USA
Sergei Guriev, economist, Sciences Po, Paris, France
Olga Gursky, biophysicist, Boston University School of Medicine, USA
Oleg Itskhoki, economist, University of California, Los Angeles, USA
Misha Ivanov, physicist, Max-Born Institute and Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany
Alexander Kabanov, chemist, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA
Mikhail Kats, applied physicist, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA
Mikhail Katsnelson, physicist, Radboud University, Netherlands
Eugene Koonin, biologist, National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, USA
Dmitry Korkin, computational biologist, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, USA
Yury Korolev, mathematician, University of Cambridge, UK
Igor Kramnik, immunologist, Boston University, USA
Alex Krasnok, physicist, Florida International University, USA
Anna Krichevsky, neurobiologist, Harvard University, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, USA
Andrei Linde, physicist, Stanford University, USA
Mark Lipovetsky, philologist, Columbia University, USA
Natalia Litchinitser, physicist, Duke University, USA
Sergei Maslov, computational and systems biologist, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA
Olga Matich, philologist, University of California Berkeley, USA
Ruslan Medzhitov, immunologist, Yale University, USA
Igor Mel’čuk, linguist, Universite Quebec a Montreal, Canada
Slava Mukhanov, physicist, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Germany
Dmitry Murzin, chemical engineer, Abo Akademi University, Finland
Mikhail Nikiforov, molecular biologist, Duke University, USA
Konstantin Novoselov, physicist, National University of Singapore, USA
Dmitri Orlov, aerospace engineer, University of California San Diego, USA
Vadim Paperny, artist, University of California, Los Angeles, USA
Alexej Pashkin, physicist, Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, Germany
Aneta Pavlenko, linguist, University of Oslo, Norway
Pavel Pevzner, computational biologist, University of California, San Diego, USA
Maria Polinsky, linguist, University of Maryland, USA
Natalia Rapoport, chemist, University of Utah, USA
Irina Rish, computer scientist, University of Montreal, and Mila – Quebec AI Institute, Canada
Alexander Rudensky, immunologist, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, USA
Roald Sagdeev, physicist, University of Maryland, USA
Irina Sekerina, cognitive scientist, The Graduate Center, City University of New York, USA
Denis Seletskiy, physicist, Polytechnique Montréal, Canada
Vladimir Shalaev, physicist, Purdue University, USA
Dmitri N. Shalin, sociologist, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, USA
Stanislav Shvabrin, slavist, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA
Olga Smirnova, physicist, Max-Born Institute and Technical University, Berlin, Germany
Konstantin Sonin, economist, University of Chicago, USA
Svetlana Sukhishvili, materials scientist, Texas A&M University, USA
Shamil Sunyaev, geneticist, Harvard University, USA
Tatiana Tatarinova, computational biologist, University of La Verne, USA
Vasily Temnov, physicist, CNRS, Ecole Polytechnique, France
Dmitry Turchinovich, physicist, Bielefeld University, Germany
Lyubov Titova, physicist, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, USA
Alexander Tropsha, computational chemist, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA
Vitaly Vanchurin, physicist, National Institutes of Health, USA
Peter Vorobieff, mechanical engineer, applied mathematician, University of New Mexico, USA
Tatiana Yankelevich Bonner, former director, Sakharov Program on Human Rights, Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies, Harvard University, USA
Efim Zelmanov, mathematician, University of California, San Diego, USA
Ariel Zhitnitsky, physicist, University of British Columbia, Canada
Alexander Zholkovsky, philologist, University of Southern California, USA
Andrei Zorin, Cultural Historian, University of Oxford, UK
All signatories have signed as private individuals.
A partial list of prior statements of Russian-speaking scholars against the war in Ukraine
● An open letter of Russian scientists and science journalists against the war in Ukraine (published 02/24/2022, over 8000 signatories)
https://t-invariant.org/2022/02/we-are-against-war/
● Stop the war! A declaration of the Russian-speaking academic diaspora (published 02/25/2022, over 500 signatories) https://docs.google.com/document/d/16kHjs3nwWM4Qb_c0OAZbNb6cH74cwaWDvuOzi7gzwXs/mobilebasic
● Community of the Moscow State University against the war (over 7000 alumni, students & faculty signatories, names now hidden because of retaliation) https://msualumniagainstwar.notion.site/0378ab0a0719486181781e8e2b360180
● An open letter from students-members of the list "Talents of Russia" of the Presidential Fund "Talent and Success" to the President of the Russian Federation V. V. Putin https://docs.google.com/document/u/0/d/1kH4Z9KhsGSax1Xa8IQ2rB5uqCrp_h7t63W1_ZwLoKUc/mobilebasic
● Health Scientists From the Former USSR Working in the United Stated Call to Stop Russia’s Criminal War Against Ukraine https://sciprotest.com/
Scholars who joined this open letter after its publication on March 20, 2020.
Roman Abel Postdoctoral Researcher for Psychology of Education Ruhr University Bochum Deutschland
Fatimakhon Ahmedova Kandidat Phil.Nauk N/A UK
Evgeny Akhmedov physicist Max-Planck-Institut fuer Kernphysik Germany
Linar Akhmetzyanov MSCA postdoc researcher Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Seville Spain
Anna Alexandrova Professor of philosophy University of Cambridge United Kingdom
Maria Arbatskaya economics professor Emory University USA
Vitaliy Avrutin Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering Virginia Commonwealth University United States
Stanislav Babak astrophysics CNRS France
Andrey Bagrov Assistant professor of physics Radboud University Netherlands
Yuri Bakhtin Professor of Mathematics Courant Institute, NYU USA
Vladislav Balagura physicist LLR, CNRS / École polytechnique France
Anna Baydova Curatorial fellow Bibliothèque nationale de France France
Colleen Beck Physician Université Toulouse 3 France
Vasily Belokurov astrophysicist University of Cambridge UK
Helena Berezin Ph.D in psychology Private clinic Israel
Alain Blanchard Professor of astrophysics Université Paul Sabatier France
Jonathan Bobaljik Professor of Linguistics Harvard University United States
Lena Borise linguist Hungarian Research Centre for Linguistics Hungary
Sergey Bozhevolnyi physicist University of Southern Denmark Denmark
Dina Brun Linguist Southern Connecticut State University USA
Sergey Budaev biologist University of Bergen Norway
Nataliya Budaeva associate professor in biology University of Bergen, Norway Norway
Pavel Cherkashin Investor in scientific research Mindrock Institute USA
Anna Chrabaszcz psycholinguistics University of Pittsburgh United States
GLATTLI Christian Physicist, Director of Research CEA Saclay FRANCE
Carmen Codoñer professor of Latin Philology University of Salamanca Salamanca (Spain)
Shay Covo Researcher of fungal genetics Hebrew U Israel
Stephen Cowley Senior Lecturer in Mathematics University of Cambridge United Kingdom
Marko Demantowsky Professor of Public History University of Vienna Austria
Tim Dokchitser mathematician University of Bristol United Kingdom
Yuri Dokshitzer physicist, DRHE emeritus CNRS, France Latvia
Stanley Dubinsky Linguistics University of South Carolina United States
ARTHUR Duhé politics Université Paris 8 France
Mariia Dvoriashyna Research Associate University of Cambridge United Kingdom
Stephen Eglen Professor of Computational Neuroscience University of Cambridge UK
Kapitolina Fedorova Professor of Russian Studies Tallinn University Estonia
William Fierman Professor Emeritus, Central Eurasian Studies Indiana University (Bloomington) United States
Sergey Frolov professor in mathematics Trinity College Dublin Ireland
Sofya Garushyants computational biologist National Library of Medicine, NIH USA
Alexander Gasparian biologist University of South Carolina USA
Vladimir Gelfand Professor of Cell Biology Northwestren University United States
Siddharth Ghosh Research Fellow - Mathematical Physics University of Cambridge UK
Richard Gill Professor of mathematics University of Leiden Netherlands
Valeriy Ginzburg Polymer physicist Michigan State University United States
Olzan Goldstein PhD in Physics and Mathematics Kaye Academic College of Education, Israel Israel
Katherine Grayson Postdoc in mathematics University of Cambridge United Kingdom
Olga Grechukhina Physician, Maternal-Fetal Medicine, OBGYN Yale University United States
François Gueyffier professor of pharmacology University of Lyon 1 France
Anna Guller experimental pathologist and biophysicist Macquarie University, Australia Australia
Stefan Heßbrüggen-Walter Independent scholar Independent scholar Germany
Michael Hitrik Mathematician UCLA United States
Herbert Huppert Professor of Theoretical Geophysics University of Cambridge United Kingdom
Jean-Marc Idée Pharmacologist self-employed France
Arieh Iserles Professor of Applied Mathematics University of Cambridge United Kingdom
Sergei Iskakov physicist University of Michigan USA
Maria Ivanova research scientist University of California Berkeley United States
Natalia Ivanova Professor of Physics University of Alberta Canada
Askold Ivantchik Historian CNRS France
Oleksandra Ivashchenko Clinical Medical Physicist in Imaging Leiden University Medical Center Netherlands
Andrey Kalinichev professor of chemistry Institut Mines-Télécom Atlantique France
Georgy Kantor ancient historian University of Oxford United Kingdom
Jean-Claude Kaplan Professor of medical molecular genetics (retired) UNIVERSITY OF PARIS (retired) France
Darya Kavitskaya Associate Professor of Linguistics University of California Berkeley United States
Alexander Kel CSO Genexplain GmbH Germany
Adrian Kent Professor of Quantum Physics University of Cambridge U.K.
Alexander Khitun Rsearch Professor University of California Riverside USA
Dmitri Kireev Professor University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill United States of America
Anastasiia Klimashevskaia PhD candidate, computer science University of Bergen Norway
Sergei Kopeikin Professor of astronomy University of Missouri USA
Grigori Korchemsky physicist CNRS, Université Paris-Saclay France
Natalia Korotkova microbiologist University of Kentucky USA
Irina Kortchemski Professeur de mathématiques Université Paris-Cergy, CY Tech France
Andrei Kotousov Professor of Mechanical Engieering The University of Adelaide Australia
Igor Kovalchuk Professor of Biology University of Lethbridge Canada
Olga Kovalchuk Professor, Biological Sciences University of Lethbridge Canada
Dmitri Krioukov physicist Northeastern University United States
Dina Kronhaus Wellcome Trust Research Fellow University of Cambridge United Kingdom
Valentina Kuskova Director, Notre Dame AnalytiXIN site at Indianapolis University of Notre Dame USA
Elena Kuzmin Assistant Professor, Department of Biology Concordia University Canada
Elena Laricheva Assistant Professor of Chemistry Utah Valley University USA
Jonas Latz Assistant Professor Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh United Kingdom
Adrien Lefauve Researcher in Applied Mathematics University of Cambridge United Kingdom
Martin Lenz Professor of Philosophy University of Groningen The Netherlands
Vadim Levin geophysicist Rutgers University USA
Alexander Ljubimov Professor of Medicine UCLA United States
Maxim Lutikov, Professor of Physics, Purdue U, USA
Herve Maisonneuve Public health physician Consultant France
René Meyer Lecturer in Physics Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg Germany
Sergiy Minko Professor of polymeric materials University of Georgia USA
Vadym Mochalin Professor of Chemistry and Materials Science & Engineering Missouri University of Science & Technology United States of America
Nadia Moro High School Teacher (Humanities), former Assistant Professor Italian Ministry of Education. Previously: Higher School of Economics, Moscow Italy
Olga Moroz Structural biologist University of York UK
ERIC Naiman Professor of Comparative Literature and Slavic Languages and Literatures University of California, Berkeley United States
Aliide Naylor Journalist & Author Freelance United Kingdom
Gennady Nikitin postdoc University of Bergen Norway
Irina Novikova Professor of physics William&Mary USA
Maxim Olshanskii professor of mathematics University of Houston United States
Alexander Osipov political scientist independent scholar Germany
Winfried Peters Professor emeritus of Biology (Purdue University Fort Wayne) Washington State University, Pullman USA
Olga Petrova Structural biologist IST Austria Austria
Pyotr Platinov Professor of cardiology Lund University Sweden
Ekaterina Pomerantseva materials scientist Drexel University USA
Dmitry Ponomarev Postdoc Vienna University of Technology Austria
Oleg Pronin Professor of laser technology Helmut Schmidt University Germany
Tatiana Pyatina Naterials scientist Brookhaven National Laboratory United States
Roman Rafikov Professor of Astrophysics University of Cambridge UK
Julia Rashba-Step Scientist, pharmaceuticals Phosphorex United States
Konstantin Ratcer film director nanofilmstudio (Los Angeles) USA
Elena Reznik Teacher of German as a second language Internationaler Bund Germany
Lara Ryazanova-Clarke linguist The University of Edinburgh United Kingdom
Maria Sachkova Postdoc in Biology University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway Norway
Andrei Sandomirskii Student of NSU BINP SB RAS Russia
Rocco Santoro lead researcher - senior statistician University of Perugia Italy
Elena Schmitt professor of Applied Linguistics Southern Connecticut State University United States
Sergei Shandarin professor of Physics and Astronomy University of Kansas USA
Irina Shilova Microbiology Second Genome USA
Sergey Shugarov Researcher, astronomy, Dr. Slovakia, Academy of Sciences Slovakia
Valentina Shumakova Postdoc, laser physics Technical University of Vienna Austria
Anna Shvarts Researcher in mathematics education Utrecht University Netherlands
Rostyslav Sipakov Ph.D. in Engineering Sciences Construction company United States
Alexandre Smirnov biochemist CNRS France
Kyrylo Snizhko physicist CEA Grenoble France
Alexander Sobolev Professor of geochemistry University Grenoble Alpes France
Nadia Sosnowsky-Waschek Professor of Psychology SRH University of Applied Sciences Heidelberg Germany
Perla Sousi Professor of mathematics University of Cambridge United Kingdom
John Sutton computer officer University of Cambridge United Kingdom
Andrey Timokhin astrophysicist University of Zielona Gora Poland
Irina Tiurikova PhD Candidate University of Bergen Norway
Bilyana Tomova PhD student in Theoretical Physics University of Cambridge United Kingdom
Natalia Tristan Head of European Service (scientific equipment) Quantum Design Europe Germany
Maxim Tsarev physics, post-doc University of Konstanz Germany
Natalia Tšuikina Assoc.prof.of Russian Tallinn University Estonia
Vladimir Tsukruk Professor Georgia Tech USA
Sergei Turitsyn professor Aston University Uk
Arkady Vainshtein physicist, Professor Emeritus University of Minnesota US
Stefano van Gogh PhD student Biomedical Engineering ETH Zurich Switzerland
Dmytro Varavin PhD Construction Company USA
Alexandre Varnek professor in theoretical chemistry University of Strasbourg France
Petr Vetrov PhD, Electronic hardware designer DESY, Germany Germany
Dmytro Volin Physics Uppsala University Sweden
Mikhail Volkov physicist University of Konstanz Germany
Peter Vorobieff Regents' Professor and Associate Chair University of New Mexico USA
Clive Wells Mathematician/Theoretical Physicist University of Cambridge (Hughes Hall) UK
Vasily Yarnykh Professor of Radiology University of Washington United States
Oleh Yermakov physicist V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University Ukraine
Gleb Yushin professor of materials science Georgia Institute of Technology USA
Kirill Zatrimaylov Theoretical physicist Freelance researcher (PhD from Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa) Италия
Alexander Zholents Scientist Argonne National Laboratory US
Sergei Shandarin USA professor of Physics and Astronomy University of Kansas USA
Guenakh Mitselmakher USA Professor of Physics University of Florida USA
Michel Goossens France Honorary professor of genetics Retired France
Kirill Chepurin Germany Doctoral student Humboldt University of Berlin Germany
Dmitry Sushkov Estonia DBA Aviation, maintenance technology Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Florida, USA Estonia
Nikita Latynov Россия Engineer Mobile Clinics, ltd Россия
Alex Gurevich USA physicist Old Dominion University USA
Sergei Shandarin professor of Physics and Astronomy University of Kansas USA
Guenakh Mitselmakher Professor of Physics University of Florida USA
Michel Goossens Honorary professor of genetics Retired France
Kirill Chepurin Doctoral student Humboldt University of Berlin Germany
Nina Kazanina Psychology University of Bristol United Kingdom
Leonid Zhigilei materials scientist University of Virginia United States
Vera Serganova Professor of mathematics UC Berkeley United States
Сергей Аведисов биолог США
Станислав Станских Конституционалист США
Olga Shishkina mathematician, physicist Germany
Alexander Zholents Physicist USA
Полина Мещерякова Биолог Россия
Рамиль Хуснутдинов Фармацевт, молекулярный биолог Россия
Mark Berenfeld PhD, chemist USA
Оксана Бондаренко Экономист Россия
Мария Булычева Экономист США
Феликс Израйлев физик Мексика
Алексей Орлов Физик США
Алина Самарская химик Польша
Александра Жернакова генетик Нидерланды