Throughout 2022, IIE-SRF responded to many new and ongoing threats facing scholars around the world. An unprecedented number of academics confronted targeting by authoritarian regimes and non-state actors, or they faced violence amidst higher education emergencies in Afghanistan, Cameroon, Myanmar, Yemen, and elsewhere. This fueled a record number of applications to IIE-SRF for the sixth year in a row. IIE has assisted threatened and displaced scholars for over a century, but never before have we confronted the scale or acuteness of today’s dangers to academics.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 only exacerbated this global crisis. The war resulted in a significant need for support to scholars from Ukrainians fleeing the conflict and to Russian dissidents. IIE-SRF’s Europe office, established in Brussels in 2021, has played a critical role in our response to the war in Ukraine. This response has primarily prioritized fellowship placements for Ukrainian scholars in Eastern European countries, where many are currently displaced and where there are relatively fewer funded opportunities. Through the IIE-SRF Europe office, we have established new relationships with institutions in countries that had not previously hosted IIE-SRF scholars, including Latvia and Poland. Current IIE-SRF fellows from Ukraine are carrying out fellowships in Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, and Germany.
Thanks to the essential support of our network of funders and partners, we have been able to grow our activities to help meet the increased global demand. IIE-SRF supported 227 fellows in 2022, our largest number since the height of the Iraq War. This work relied on partnerships across continents and sectors, including with 105 hosting higher education institutions in 29 countries. We also welcomed the 1,000th IIE-SRF fellow, philosopher Dr. Tetiana Danylova of Ukraine.
We hope you will join us in recognizing the milestones of the IIE-SRF program and our partners. We also hope you will celebrate with us the accomplishments and resilience of all IIE-SRF fellows, some of whom are highlighted in this Year in Review. If you would like to support IIE-SRF, please consider joining the IIE-SRF Alliance, making a donation, and/or referring a qualified scholar in need.
The urgent need to assist threatened and displaced scholars around the world only continues to grow. As we enter 2023, IIE-SRF remains committed to working with our partners in the higher education, scientific, philanthropic, human rights, and governmental communities to provide these scholars with the practical support that will allow them to live and pursue their scholarly work in safety.
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