News & Events

News and Events

March 9, 2022

Ecologist Eulogio Chacón Moreno of Venezuela shares the impact of his IIE-SRF fellowship

Nature
By Virginia Gewin

Faced with instability in Venezuela, ecologist Eulogio Chacón Moreno shares how his IIE-SRF fellowship made it possible for him to continue his work in Spain.

March 2, 2022

Fellow Shahla Farid of Afghanistan shares her journey to the U.S.

Rutgers Today
By Robin Lally

In a Rutgers Today article, IIE-SRF fellow Shahla Farid shares her family’s harrowing journey from Taliban-controlled Afghanistan to the US. A lawyer and human rights activist, Farid is undertaking her IIE-SRF fellowship appointment at Rutgers University.

February 25, 2022

Fellow Mahir Hazim of Afghanistan makes the case for expediting the ICC’s investigations of the Taliban in op-ed

The Diplomat
By Mahir Hazim

In an op-ed in The Diplomat, IIE-SRF fellow Mahir Hazim of Afghanistan details that the Taliban has been accused of committing numerous war crimes and crimes against humanity. He makes the case for expediting the International Criminal Court’s investigations of the Taliban.

February 11, 2022

Job opportunity: IIE-SRF Senior Coordinator

IIE-SRF is seeking qualified candidates for an available Senior Coordinator position! The Senior Coordinator performs high-level administrative and operational work tasks for the IIE-SRF program, including leading all aspects of payments, coordinating events and meetings, and maintaining administrative systems. To learn more about the position and to apply or refer, click here.

January 14, 2022

The Wilson Center partners with IIE-SRF on new initiative

The Wilson Center has launched a new initiative for scholars facing threats to their lives or careers in their home countries. In cooperation with IIE-SRF, a select number of fellowship appointments will be arranged each year for threatened and displaced scholars.

December 20, 2021

Job opportunity: IIE-SRF Program Officer

IIE-SRF is seeking qualified candidates for an available Program Officer position! IIE-SRF Program Officers manage all phases of applicant vetting and selection, grantee and host partner management, and monitoring for a complex caseload of scholars from around the world. To learn more about the position and to apply or refer, click here.

December 16, 2021

IIE-SRF fellow from Afghanistan arrives at University of Pittsburgh

Pittwire
By Nichole Faina

The University of Pittsburgh announces the arrival of IIE-SRF fellow Dr. Omar Sadr from Afghanistan and shares its efforts to support additional scholars from the country.

November 30, 2021

University of Texas at Austin announces partnership with IIE-SRF in new article

Texas Global Newsroom
By Ellen Stader

In an article from the Texas Global Newsroom, the University of Texas at Austin shares its commitment to partnering with IIE-SRF to support threatened and displaced scholars.

November 11, 2021

Venezuela’s Higher Education Crisis: An IIE-SRF Dialogues Webinar

By IIE-SRF staff

Join us on Wednesday, December 8 for a bilingual discussion hosted by IIE-SRF and The Section on Venezuelan Studies at LASA (live interpretation available). Register here.

Lea el anuncio en español aquí

Venezuela’s entrenched political and economic crises are having a devastating impact on the country’s university students, professors, and higher education sector at large. Severe restrictions on universities’ autonomy, massive decreases in research funding and faculty salaries, and general insecurity have crippled scholars’ ability to conduct their work and left many universities on the brink of paralysis. By some estimates, nearly 60 percent of Venezuela’s professors and researchers been compelled to leave the country. Those who remain encounter deteriorating conditions on their once-vibrant university campuses, where resource-deprived classrooms and laboratories stand largely abandoned. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the difficulties for academics in Venezuela, who have been forced to grapple with increased repression, a worsening economy, and an under-resourced health care system. The higher education crisis has led to a dramatic increase in requests for support from Venezuelan academics to IIE’s Scholar Rescue Fund (IIE-SRF). In the first 10 months of 2021 alone, IIE-SRF supported more of the country’s scholars to safely resume their work abroad than any year in the program’s history.

Venezuela’s Higher Education Crisis” – the fourth webinar of the IIE-SRF Dialogues series – will elucidate the impacts of Venezuela’s economic and political crises on the country’s higher education sector as well as IIE-SRF’s efforts to help Venezuelan scholars resume their teaching and research, particularly within the Latin America region. An IIE-SRF fellow from Venezuela will also discuss his fellowship experience in Chile and offer insights on the unique challenges of the largest recorded migration crisis in the Americas. The webinar is co-hosted by IIE-SRF and The Section on Venezuelan Studies at the Latin American Studies Association (LASA), the largest professional association in the world for individuals and institutions engaged in the study of Latin America. The discussion, which will be held primarily in Spanish, will take place on Wednesday, December 8th at 4 pm Eastern Standard Time. (Participants will have the option of listening to a live English translation during the webinar using Zoom’s language interpretation feature.) The webinar will feature:

  • Emily Elliot-Meisel: IIE-SRF Program Officer
  • Dr. Raul Sánchez Urribarri: Section Chair of the Venezuela Studies section of LASA
  • Dr. María Puerta Riera: Executive Committee Member of the Venezuela Studies section of LASA
  • Dr. Audy Salcedo: IIE-SRF fellow from Venezuela, currently undertaking a fellowship at the Catholic University of Maule in Chile
  • A Q&A session for participants

We hope to see you at the webinar! Register here.

About IIE-SRF Dialogues: “Venezuela’s Higher Education Crisis” is the fourth session of IIE-SRF’s 2021 webinar series IIE-SRF Dialogues. Webinars in this series explore the threats facing academics globally as well as the ongoing efforts to help these scholars resume their work and rebuild their lives and careers. These hour-long webinars feature IIE-SRF fellows and alumni, IIE-SRF partners, and other experts discussing the world’s most urgent higher education emergencies, key topics related to academic freedom, and best practices in assisting threatened and displaced scholars as identified by IIE-SRF and our Alliance partners. You can view our prior webinars using the below links:

» Attacks on Higher Education, co-hosted by the Global Coalition to Prevent Education from Attack (GCPEA)
» Yemen’s Higher Education Crisis, co-hosted by the Association for Yemeni Academics & Professionals (AYAP)
» The enduring impact of IIE-SRF scholars on communities worldwide: Four alumni share their stories

About IIE-SRF: The Institute of International Education’s Scholar Rescue Fund (IIE-SRF) is the only global program that arranges and funds fellowships for threatened and displaced scholars at partnering higher education institutions worldwide. Since its founding in 2002, IIE-SRF has supported over 950 scholars from 60 countries in partnership with more than 440 host institutions in 51 countries. IIE-SRF is committed to supporting Venezuelan academics facing threats to their lives and careers (see page 108). Venezuelan scholars have undertaken IIE-SRF fellowships at host universities in six countries, including two countries in Latin America.

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La inestabilidad política generalizada de Venezuela y la prolongada crisis económica están teniendo un impacto devastador en los estudiantes universitarios, los profesores y el sector de la educación superior del país en general. Las severas restricciones a la autonomía de las universidades, la disminución masiva en la financiación de la investigación y de los salarios del profesorado, y la inseguridad general han paralizado la capacidad de los académicos para llevar a cabo su trabajo y han dejado a muchas universidades al borde de la parálisis. Según algunas estimaciones, casi el 60 por ciento de los investigadores científicos venezolanos han abandonado el país. Los que se quedan se encuentran con el deterioro de las condiciones de sus campus universitarios que alguna vez fueron brillantes, donde las aulas y los laboratorios, carentes de recursos, se encuentran en gran parte abandonados. La pandemia de COVID-19 ha exacerbado las dificultades para los académicos en Venezuela, que se han visto obligados a lidiar con una mayor represión, un empeoramiento de la economía y un sistema de atención médica con recursos insuficientes. La crisis de la educación superior ha provocado un aumento dramático de solicitudes de apoyo por parte de los académicos venezolanos al Fondo de Rescate Académico del IIE (IIE’s Scholar Rescue Fund). Solo en los primeros 10 meses de 2021, el IIE-SRF apoyó a más académicos del país que cualquier otro año en la historia del programa, para que reanuden su trabajo en el extranjero de forma segura.

La crisis de la educación superior en Venezuela” (“Venezuela’s Higher Education Crisis”) -el cuarto seminario web de la serie Diálogos del IIE-SRF (IIE-SRF Dialogues)- dilucidará las repercusiones de la crisis económica y política de Venezuela en el sector de la educación superior del país, así como los esfuerzos del IIE-SRF para ayudar a los académicos venezolanos a reanudar su labor docente y de investigación, especialmente en la región de América Latina. Un becario del IIE-SRF de Venezuela también hablará de su experiencia como becario en Chile y brindará su visión sobre los desafíos únicos de la mayor crisis migratoria registrada en América. El seminario web está copatrocinado por el IIE-SRF y Sección de Estudios Venezolanos de la Asociación de Estudios Latinoamericanos (LASA), la mayor asociación profesional del mundo para personas e instituciones dedicadas al estudio de América Latina. El debate, que se llevará a cabo principalmente en español, tendrá lugar el miércoles 8 de diciembre a las 4 pm, hora del este. (Los participantes tendrán la opción de escuchar una traducción al inglés en directo durante el seminario web utilizando la función de interpretación de idiomas de Zoom). El seminario web contará con:

¡Esperamos verse ahí! Registrarse aquí.

  • Emily Elliot-Meisel: Responsable del programa IIE-SRF
  • Dr. Raul Sánchez Urribarri: Presidente de la Sección de Estudios Venezolanos de LASA
  • Dra. María Puerta Riera: Miembro del Comité Ejecutivo de la Sección de Estudios Venezolanos de LASA
  • Dr. Audy Salcedo: becario del IIE-SRF de Venezuela, actualmente realizando una beca en la Universidad Católica del Maule en Chile
  • Una sección de preguntas y respuestas para los participantes

Acerca de los Diálogos del IIE-SRF (IIE-SRF Dialogues): “La crisis de la educación superior en Venezuela” (“Venezuela’s Higher Education Crisis”) es la cuarta sesión de la serie de seminarios web 2021 Diálogos del IIE-SRF (IIE-SRF Dialogues) del IIE-SRF. Los seminarios web de esta serie exploran las amenazas a las que se enfrentan los académicos en todo el mundo, así como los esfuerzos en curso para ayudar a estos académicos a reanudar su trabajo y reconstruir sus vidas y carreras. Estos debates de una hora de duración cuentan con la participación de becarios y ex becarios del IIE-SRF, socios del IIE-SRF y otros expertos que debaten las emergencias principales del mundo en el ámbito de la educación superior, los temas clave relacionados con la libertad académica y las mejores prácticas para ayudar a los académicos amenazados y desplazados, según lo identificado por el IIE-SRF y nuestros socios de la Alianza. Puede ver nuestros seminarios web previos en los siguientes enlaces:

»Ataques a la educación superior (Attacks on Higher Education), coorganizado por la Coalición Mundial para Prevenir los Ataques a la Educación (GCPEA)
»La crisis de la educación superior en Yemen (Yemen’s Higher Education Crisis), coorganizada por la Asociación de Académicos y Profesionales de Yemen (AYAP)
»El impacto duradero de los becarios del IIE-SRF en comunidades de todo el mundo (The enduring impact of IIE-SRF scholars on communities worldwide): cuatro ex becarios comparten sus historias

Acerca de IIE-SRF: El Fondo de Rescate Académico del Instituto de Educación Internacional (IIE-SRF) el único programa global que organiza y financia becas para académicos amenazados y desplazados en instituciones de educación superior asociadas en todo el mundo. Desde su creación en 2002, IIE-SRF ha apoyado a casi 950 académicos de 60 países colocando becarios en más de 440 instituciones de educación superior en 51 países. IIE-SRF mantiene su compromiso de abordar esta crises ortogando académicos venezolanos amenazados y desplazados. (página 108) Becarios venezolanos están realizando becas de IIE-SRF en instituciones en seis países, incluidos dos países en America Latina.

November 9, 2021

Western University shares its commitment to supporting Afghan scholars in partnership with IIE-SRF in new article

Global News
By Kelly Wang

In a Global News article, Western University in Ontario, Canada announces scholarships for Afghan students and shares its commitment to supporting Afghan scholars in partnership with IIE-SRF.