Joint expression of solidarity with Ukrainian people and support of researchers

31 Mar

Written By Jo Gamble

The International Society of Limnology (SIL),

The Freshwater Biological Association (FBA)

The Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO)

The European Federation for Freshwater Sciences (EFFS)

The Society of Freshwater Science (SFS)

Are jointly reaching out to their members with a letter by which support for Ukrainian researchers shall be expressed.

The International Society of Limnology (SIL) and the above signing societies, including the European Federation for Freshwater Sciences (EFFS) on behalf of its federated societies, would like to express our solidarity and deepest sympathy with the people in Ukraine. We, the members of the societies, are deeply concerned by the developments of the past weeks. As international organisations hosting members from all around the globe, we express condolence and grief to families, friends and close colleagues who are affected. We hope that the invasion stops immediately and that further escalation harming the Ukrainian people, even more, can be prevented.

Research to support the sustainable development of life on our planet is effective only by peaceful and respectful interaction among researchers, the general public and politicians. Therefore, we intend to support our Ukrainian research colleagues. We share a list of existing open-source directories and databases where offers for Ukrainian researchers can be registered (https://limnology.org/news/). We ask all our members and colleagues to contribute by adding opportunities for funding, technical support, or positions for Ukrainian researchers. We intend to demonstrate that the international scientific community is united to provide safe conditions for colleagues most affected by the war in the Ukraine.

SIL will celebrate its 100th anniversary at an international congress in Berlin in August 2022. SIL is in the process of facilitating strong participation by Ukrainian scientists, exploring funding options to cover travel costs and registration waivers, and SIL will waive membership fees for up to two years for Ukrainian freshwater scientists who want to join the SIL community. Furthermore, SIL considers developing a focused open session organized by Ukrainian scientists to be offered virtually during the SIL Congress, and would help our Ukrainian colleagues to participate in the SIL congress and become SIL members. Please keep us informed about your activities and send us names and e-mail addresses of Ukrainian colleagues who need support by mailing us at business@limnology.org (SIL-Ukraine).

Support Resources for Scientific Societies’ Members/Scientists from Ukraine

1. Plea for support from National Research Fund of Ukraine
https://www.scienceeurope.org/news/plea-for-support-from-nrfu/

2. Directory of help offers to Ukrainian scholars and students – #ScienceforUkraine
(open positions at various academic levels and other offers)
https://scienceforukraine.eu/table.html
Twitter channel: https://twitter.com/Sci_for_Ukraine

3. How Science Europe is supporting scientists in Ukraine
https://www.scienceeurope.org/our-priorities/ukraine/

4. ASEEES Resources to help displaced scholars from Ukraine
https://www.aseees.org/resources/help-displaced-scholars-ukraine

5. Lviv Center for Urban History – Support for academics at risk
https://www.lvivcenter.org/updates/academics-at-risk/ (in Ukrainian)

6. Labs supporting scientists
(funding, technical support and open positions at various academic levels across the world)
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1jGFCqP2kj1ZAN6xy6EoRN1bozaggk9VEsbzYaIkkYcQ/htmlview#gid=0

7. Statement of solidarity with Ukraine of the European University Association (EUA), which represents more than 850 universities and national rectors’ conferences in 48 European countries

https://eua.eu/news/834:eua-statement-of-solidarity-with-ukraine.html

8. Statement by Ukrainian Universities and the Academy to help those who decided not to leave or could not leave the country with remote positions:

https://www.change.org/p/universities-open-remote-positions-for-ukrainian-refugee-scholars?fbclid=IwAR39nFZYPsHIyxCf4ZfsuiktpZ2puTQAvO7Fcv-7eiHSLSduAeMg_wouWKg