Press Release, 03/08/2022

Support for researchers from Ukraine

The Gerda Henkel Foundation is making funds available for scholarships abroad and for humanitarian assistance

The Gerda Henkel Foundation is making grants totalling 2 million euros available for Ukrainian scholars. The funding will be spread across three pillars: Up to one million euros will go to the Philipp Schwartz Initiative, an Alexander von Humboldt Foundation programme for researchers threatened by war or persecution in their home countries. Up to 500,000 euros will be allocated to the non-profit organization MitOst e.V., which is busy coordinating humanitarian assistance measures in Ukraine and its neighbouring countries. A similar sum of 500,000 euros will be made available for an in-house scholarship programme with which the Gerda Henkel Foundation is initially reaching out to persons who have in the past received or are at present receiving grants, with the intention being to make it possible for them to stay at research institutes and universities in Germany and Europe.

This initiative is aimed not just at Ukrainian citizens but also at researchers from Russia and Belarus who for political reasons are no longer allowed to work, are being threatened, or have to leave their country. “For all the justified anger and sorrow in the face of Putin’s brutal war of aggression, we should not forget that in Russia and Belarus there are also many scholars who at great personal risk have spoken out against the policies of their government,” emphasizes Dr. Michael Hanssler, Chairman of the Gerda Henkel Foundation Executive Board: “We have received truly moving messages from Russian scholars who have asked us to reassign project funding still due to them and send it instead to Ukrainian colleagues. This solidarity is remarkably courageous and an expression of the fact that Russian politicians are encountering increasing pushback from within their own population, too.”

With the assistance of the Philipp Schwartz Initiative scholars who face considerable and persistent personal dangers can instead continue their work at German universities and research establishments. The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation has extended the nominations deadline for Ukrainian researchers until 18 March 2022: Philipp Schwartz Initiative - Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung (humboldt-foundation.de)

MitOst e.V. is a non-profit association set up by Robert Bosch Foundation scholarship holders. The association is dedicated to promoting language and cultural exchange in Central, East and Southeast Europe. In Ukraine, it is helping organize civil protection, facilitating evacuations, and brokering temporary accommodation. The association cooperates with partners in Ukraine, Bulgaria, Germany, Lithuania, Moldavia, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary that are actively working to ensure the acceptance of refugees from Ukraine (https://www.mitost.org/ukraine/)

The Gerda Henkel Foundation is now more strongly reaching out to past and current grant holder as regards individual scholarships for scholars who are at risk or who had been forced to flee. They can themselves get assistance or can recommend support for other persons employed at Ukrainian universities.


Academic contact point for funding/grants

Dr. Birte Ruhardt, Gerda Henkel Foundation, Head of the Office of the Executive Board
E-Mail: ruhardt@gerda-henkel-stiftung.de


Gerda Henkel Foundation press office

Dr Sybille Wüstemann, Telephone +49 211 93 65 24 - 19
E-Mail: wuestemann@gerda-henkel-stiftung.de