SAR in the Press

The following includes select interviews, articles, and op-eds by or about Scholars at Risk and its network.

Iran students abroad stand in solidarity as peers lead uprisings

“Iranians studying abroad have taken to the streets in solidarity with the student-led, anti-government protests that erupted across Iran in September, while efforts have begun to protect Iranian scholars involved in the uprising. […] Scholars at Risk told The PIE News that

A Voice for the Hazara People

As a scholar of private law with over a decade of experience, Prof. Dr. Adbullah Shafaee conducts research on family law, constitutional law, property law, Islamic law, and women’s law, among others, and has been involved in drafting and amending

Afghan scientific expertise scattered, one year on from Taliban takeover

“Afghan scientific expertise scattered, one year on from Taliban takeover” A piece by Rebecca Trager, for Chemistry News. Afghanistan’s research infrastructure may be idling, but students and researchers who managed to escape abroad continue their work and plan to return to

Afghan chemists are afraid and uncertain

“Afghan chemists are afraid and uncertain.” A piece by Andrea Widener for Chemical and Engineering News. A year ago, women chemists in Afghanistan were excited about the future. Young girls had started to think they didn’t have to be teachers

Brazilian university under continuous attack worries international entities

A piece by Marcelo Vinicius Miranda Barros for Le Monde diplomatique. The constant Brazilian academic decline has taken on a proportion that Scholars at Risk (SAR) formally demanded attention from the United Nations (UN) on the subject. Read the full piece.

Helping at-risk scholars

A piece by Iryna Zenyuk, for UCI News. Reflections from Iryna Zenyuk, associate professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering Feb. 24, 2022, was a regular day in the lab for me, with a proposal review panel and meetings – nothing extraordinary.

In search of a research haven

A piece by Michele Catanzaro for Nature. From Syria to Ukraine, Italian universities have set up projects to host displaced scholars. Now they need to look beyond the emergency and offer systematic solutions, experts say. In Trento, Ghanya Al-Naqueb extracts

Russian Academics Aim to Punish Colleagues Who Backed Ukraine Invasion

A piece by Dalmeet Singh Chawla for The New York Times. A campaign is circulating a list of dozens of researchers in the hopes they will be denied the prestige of election into the Russian Academy of Sciences. Some academic researchers

Supporting at-risk academics

A piece by Fiona McIntyre for Research Professional News A look at schemes in Europe and beyond that aim to help researchers in danger Since Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February, universities across Europe have been looking at how to

Only On CBS: Ukrainian Refugees Fleeing War Arrive To America

After escaping a war-torn Ukraine and the now besieged Kyiv, a young Ukrainian couple landed in Hollywood, away from the violence, although only for a few days. “It’s very hard to even imagine that you might not have a home

Brown prepares to house displaced Ukrainian scholars

A piece by Alex Nadirashvili for Brown Daily Herald. The University is currently working with partner organizations such as Scholars at Risk and the New University in Exile Consortium “to provide a safe academic home” for Ukrainian scholars displaced by the ongoing Russian invasion, according

An Interview with Robert Quinn, Founding Executive Director of the Global Network Scholars at Risk

A Q/A by Vanessa Frangville and Gwennaël Gaffric, for Transtext(e)sTranscultures’s special issue “Academic Freedom in a Global Context: Challenges and Perspectives.” VF & GG: We often hear that academic freedom, like other “universal values”, is a western-centric concept and that

Do academic boycotts work?

A piece by Simon Baker, for Times Higher Education: The Ukraine war has led to unprecedented curtailment of academic ties, but could breaking off all relations with Russia cause further problems? The sheer brutality of Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine

UConn and Scholars at Risk: A Life-Saving Partnership, A Transformative Educational Experience

A piece by Jaclyn Severance, for UConn Today. A journalist and activist, Marvi Sirmed faces threats of violence in her home country of Pakistan, but has found safety and academic freedom through UConn’s unique and longstanding partnership with the Scholars

The 2021 ‘Free to Think’ Global Academic Freedom Report

A series of pieces in University World News on Free to Think 2021, SAR’s report tracing attacks on higher education communities around the world. The report analyzes 332 attacks on higher education communities in 65 countries and territories around the world

Violent Repression and Government Overreach Fuel Global Decline in Academic Freedom, Free to Think 2026 Report Finds

NEW YORK, Sept. 15, 2026—Violent state repression and government interference in university autonomy lead the global decline in academic freedom, according to Scholars at Risk’s (SAR) new Free to Think 2026 report. Documenting 382 attacks on higher education communities in

Introducing Scholars at Risk

Scholars at Risk is an international network of institutions and individuals whose mission it is to protect scholars and promote academic freedom. Learn more about SAR’s mission and the courageous scholars we are honored to assist in the below video

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