Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine on the 24th of February, European Universities have started publishing condemnation messages for the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Besides that, most of the Universities in Europe have decided to take actions for students and researchers who are negatively affected by the current war situation in Ukraine.

In İtaly the Conference of Italian University Rectors - CRUI published a note on how to act and mitigate this situation for Ukrainian students and researchers. Universities in the Emilia Romagna region gave a quick response to this call as well. 

The University of Bologna and the University of Ferrara are organizing events to draw public attention to what is happening in Ukraine. Moreover, they are organizing psychological support services for both Ukrainian and Russian students. UNIBO has also started to organize support and activities for students coming from these countries and will soon accept 10 students and 4 researchers from Ukraine.

The University of Bologna also created a Ukraine emergency contact address for their students who are facing any difficulties via specific e-mail address.

The University of Parma intends to launch a welcome action for at least 8 Ukrainian researchers through the activation of annual scholarships worth € 18,000. In this context, UNIPR also provides a 3 months scholarship and other facilities. Besides that, as further action, UNIPR evaluates 2 visiting professor positions.

University Modena and Reggio Emilia responded to the call of CRUI too. In particular, they act as part of the University for Peace network as well as the Observatory on migrants and asylum seekers in the Modena area. 

All universities sited in Emilia-Romagna are organizing seminars and webinars, opened to students and citizens too, to better understand the war in Ukraine.

For more information, events, actions and updates check these links: UniBo UniFe, UniPr, UniMore, UniCatt, PoliMi

Also, the most important national research centers located in Emilia-Romagna are running projects for the sake of science. For example, INFN expressed full solidarity with the Ukrainian people and assured its willingness to support the initiatives for peace and in support of people in difficulty that will be promoted by the Italian Government and the Ministry of University and Research. INFN is also working to offer support to Ukrainian colleagues with welcoming initiatives.

The CNR stressed that science is a fundamental vehicle for peace and collaboration. They suspended agreements with and business travels to Russia and are taking actions to host and support Ukrainian students, researchers and professors through 66 scholarships.