When academics around the world find themselves displaced from their home countries amid war and personal threats of violence, the Institute of International Education's Scholar Rescue Fund steps in to help place them in fellowships at universities elsewhere.
Linguist and historian Dr. Barakatullo Ashurov of Tajikistan has been named the 2019 IIE-SRF Beau Biden Scholar. This distinction is awarded annually to an IIE-SRF Fellow who embodies the legacy of Beau Biden, the former Attorney General of Delaware, in pursuing justice and safeguarding vulnerable populations.
A number of projects have looked into the reality of higher education for Syrians who have had to leave their homes since 2011. The IIE Scholar Rescue Fund has since dedicated special efforts to supporting Syrian scholars, and has established a number of collaborations that have so far sent 106 of them to 80 institutions in 14 countries.
Opportunities for career advancement are attracting researchers from all over the world to conduct their work in Europe, according to a new article from Nature. One of those researchers is Fellow Dr. Fathiah Zakham, a microbiologist from Yemen. Currently undertaking her fellowship at the University of Helsinki through IIE-SRF’s partnership with the Finnish National Agency for Education (EDUFI), Zakham has gained research experience that was not afforded to her in Yemen.
Mark Angelson, Chairman of IIE-SRF and Vice Chairman of IIE, was elected as the Chair of the Rutgers Board of Governors. He will assume his new role on July 1, 2019. A Rutgers College and Rutgers Law School alumnus, Angelson is also a member of Rutgers Hall of Distinguished Alumni. Rutgers University is one of IIE-SRF’s leading partners. Since 2013, it has hosted eight IIE-SRF Fellows from six countries at its New Brunswick, Newark, and Camden campuses.
Dr. Jason Hecht is the Associate Director for Academic Programming of Cornell University’s Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies. With Dr. Hecht's support, Cornell has hosted four IIE-SRF fellows from three countries to date.
ACA and UNICA are organising a joint stakeholder event at the European Committee of the Regions in Brussels on behalf of their project teams – GREET and Academic Refuge. The event, titled “Higher Education Values in Practice – Integration of highly skilled refugees and at-risk academics in Europe,” will focus on academic values and the role of Europe’s higher education community in supporting students and scholars with refugee background and academics at risk. The event will take place in Brussels on June 13-14. IIE-SRF is on the advisory committee for the GREET project.
This article provides an overview of worldwide efforts to support displaced students and scholars. It breaks down the various new initiatives in the U.S. that are facilitating access to higher education, and gives a thorough summary of the 2019 AACRAO report that features a section on displaced scholars written by IIE-SRF and Scholars at Risk.
IIE-SRF alumnus Alfred Brownell, an environmental and human rights activist, fled his native Liberia after his successful campaign against a foreign palm oil plantation led to death threats and intimidation. Today, he hopes to return after being named one of this year’s winners of the Goldman environmental prize. Brownell is the inaugural occupant of the IIE-SRF Beau Biden Chair.
Canada has played a major role in acting as a safe haven for at-risk academics. As a partner of the Institute of International Education’s Scholar Rescue Fund (SRF), Canada has enabled almost 30 professors, researchers and scientists to come to universities across Canada to continue their work.
Read about application and selection processes, the fellowship experience, and how to partner with IIE-SRF.
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