Support for researchers who are in danger or have fled Ukraine

In response to the war in Ukraine, support programmes for researchers who are in acute danger are expanding. Check this page regularly for updated information about different scholarship programmes.

If you have contact with researchers who are in danger or have fled Ukraine and you would like to help them, for example, with applying for funding, please connect them with the Welcome Centre team. The Welcome Centre advises and supports applicants and departments, coordinates nominations, and provides assistance beyond subject-specific matters. The Research Support team also provides advice for submitting applications for funding and gives guidance on questions of how to integrate refugee researchers in research projects. 

Funding programmes and scholarships for researchers who are in danger or have fled Ukraine

  • The EAST-Danube Mentoring Program aims to empower highly qualified women from Eastern European countries to pursue an academic career as university professor in Germany.
  • The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (in German) has taken a number of measures in response to the war in Ukraine. Institutional and material exchange with Russia has been stopped, but communications are going on. Researchers threatened by war or for political reasons are offered unbureaucratic support and refuge.
  • The Baden-Württemberg Fonds für verfolgte Wissenschaftler (in German) provides scholarships for researchers at risk to continue their research at universities and research institutions in the state of Baden-Württemberg. 
    Applications for scholarships can be submitted at any time directly to the IIE Scholar Rescue Fund (IIE-SRF).
  • The DBU-MOE Fellowship Special Programme of the German Federal Environmental Foundation (Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt DBU) enables early career researchers from Ukraine to spend six to twelve months at German host institutions, including universities, research institutions, environmental protection authorities, associations and non-governmental organizations. Master's graduates as well as doctoral researchers can apply.
  • The German Research Foundation (DFG) supports researchers who have fled their countries by making it easier for them to join research projects and submit applications for the Walter Benjamin Programme (to fund research positions, not scholarships).
  • The art foundation Ernst von Siemens Kunststiftung (in German) is launching a 2 million euro funding line for refugee Ukrainian and acutely persecuted Russian scientists and scholars who can take on projects in German museums and collections.
  • The European Research Area for Ukraine (ERA4Ukraine) portal is launched on the existing EURAXESS network, which supports researchers by connecting more than 600 centres and 43 national portals across the EU Member States and countries associated to Horizon Europe.
  • The Gerda Henkel Foundation provides funding of 2 million euros for Ukrainian scientists and scholars. The initiative is aimed not only at Ukrainian citizens but also at researchers from Russia and Belarus who are no longer allowed to work for political reasons, are threatened or have to leave the country.
  • The Vector Foundation (in German) would like to help scientists who are forced to leave their home country due to the current situation in Ukraine to continue their scientific work temporarily at a host institution in Baden-Württemberg. To this end, the Vector Foundation provides funding to universities and research institutions in Baden-Württemberg to provide refugees with Ukrainian citizenship and completed citizenship and have completed their studies for a limited period of time (6-12 months) in existing working groups and projects.
  • Researchers who were forced to leave Ukraine because of the invasion by Russian troops can apply for funding from the Volkswagen Foundation to continue their work at a university or research institution in Germany. Applications can be submitted to the Volkswagen Foundation for funding lasting six to twelve months. If you would like to submit an application, please contact the Research Support team.

Information about travel to Germany and within the country

General information for Ukrainian citizens about travelling to Germany and within the country is available on the Federal Ministry of the Interior and Community website: FAQs about entering Germany from Ukraine

Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst – National Academic Contact Point Ukraine: first orientation in Germany and especially in the German higher education and research system.

Information from ministries and federal authorities