EU launches scheme to point refugees towards science

The Science4Refugees initiative launched by the European Commission this week aims to point refugees towards job or training opportunities in universities and labs across Europe.

The Science4Refugees branding will be adopted by academic institutions that post internships or training courses for refugees and asylum seekers, with listings on EURAXESS, the EU jobsite for research positions.  

Recruitment will be merit-based, and refugees will compete for employment on the same basis as other applicants. It will be compulsory to follow national employment law, including rules on residence, visas and work permits, when applying for a job, the Commission said.

The scheme was endorsed by Kurt Deketelaere, secretary-general of the League of European Research Universities, an association of 21 top universities in Europe.

This year Europe has been desperately trying to process and settle an estimated 500,000 migrants, many escaping the civil war in Syria, now in its fifth year.

Stephen Wordsworth of the Council for At-Risk Academics, a UK NGO, said any initiative to help those who have been forced to flee from conflict and violence is, of course, very welcome.

He did however, take small issue with the naming of the scheme, saying, “Many of those who have been forced to leave their universities in countries like Iraq or Syria do not see themselves as refugees, and do not want to have to seek asylum.”

In response, the NGO changed its name from the Council for Assisting Refugee Academics. “The very people we were helping kept telling us that they didn’t think the refugee label was right,” Wordsworth said.

Efforts around Europe

Some universities have responded to the refugee crisis by offering scholarships, with Warwick University in the UK for example, providing 10 student scholarships for the academic year 2015-16 and 10 more in 2016-17.

The University of East London has offered 10 scholarships to Syrians in refugee camps, while the Sheffield University is providing five scholarships at 50 per cent tuition fees to students from Syria.

Glasgow University has taken in two Syrian academics as PhD students. Anton Muscatelli, vice-chancellor of the University, said, “We shall be offering four fee waivers, one for each of our colleges. These fee waivers would be available to applicants who do not currently qualify for free tuition through the Scottish Funding Council at undergraduate and postgraduate taught level.”

In Germany meanwhile, demand is outstripping supply. The government started a Leadership for Syria scholarship programme last autumn, and received around 5,000 applications for 221 places.

Kiron University in Berlin, founded by students, will offer refugees a two-year online programme in partnership with providers of massively open online courses (MOOCs), including Harvard, Stanford and Yale in the US. Students will be awarded a double degree, from both institutions. More than 15,000 have already approached the school.