Missed last week’s webinar with SAR and @kthuniversity.bsky.social? A recording of their conversation on #F2T2025 and the worrying attacks on #academicfreedom and democracy can be watched here:
www.kth.se/en/bibliotek...
Recent drone strikes on universities in #Sudan are more than just deadly—they are a “direct assault on science, knowledge and the students’ right to pursue safe and stable education.” Read more from University World News:
https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20260227095533406
On Friday, March 6 from 12:10 - 13:00 join @kthuniversity.bsky.social and SAR to discuss the #F2T2025 report! This seminar will explore global attacks on #highered and the critical links between #academicfreedom and democracy. Join here:
www.kth.se/en/bibliotek...
Congratulations to the Student Advocacy Seminar at @monashuniversity.bsky.social, #Australia for being a Future Builder Award Finalist, which honors the students’ real-world advocacy campaigns for #wrongfullyimprisoned scholars and human rights! Learn more:
www.theaustralian.com.au/special-repo...
"Between Risk and Research" | Dr. Halyna Tsyhanenko describes fleeing war in Ukraine in March 2022, the impact of an academic placement coordinated by SAR member University of Basel and her subsequent research into the social inclusion of Ukrainian refugees. #SAR25
https://ow.ly/3PBX50Yoc3H
How does war reshape the built environment—and the cultural memory it holds?
Join us at the University of Chicago for a lecture by SAR-supported scholar Dr. Oksana Chabanyuk on the destruction of Ukraine’s architectural heritage during four years of war.
Register: https://ow.ly/o0jW50YpfOn
Photo credit: ©MCI/Aaron Heimerl
The total disregard for the wellbeing of Dr. Djalali is deeply disturbing. The Swedish govt must act to help #FreeDjalali and ensure that wrongfully detained scholars like him are not forgotten amidst the political chaos in #Iran. Learn more:
www.scholarsatrisk.org/action/schol...
Staff from Evin Prison—where #wrongfullyimprisoned scholar Dr. Ahmadreza Djalai has been held—have reportedly fled following military conflict in #Iran. Food distribution, basic services, and all contact with his wife have ceased.
www.tv4.se/artikel/44AB...
A new feature from the University of Ottawa highlights its decade-long commitment to hosting and supporting scholars through the Scholars at Risk (SAR) network.
Learn more about the impact of the SAR uOttawa Program: https://ow.ly/yj9z50YoG5x
#AcademicFreedom #ScholarsAtRisk #SARCAN
To mark #SAR25, Royal Society Te Apārangi convened a panel of experts from the International Science Council (ISC) to discuss "...declining trust in institutions and science as a human right."
Learn more: https://council.science/blog/scientific-freedom-as-a-human-right/
This week marks four years since Russia’s full-scale invasion of #Ukraine. Read Dr. Tetiana Hranchak's reflection from February 2025 on the impact of the war on her academic work, Ukrainian national memory, and the critical need for media literacy. https://ow.ly/1C3l50V32ML
Thanks again to all the SAR Network institutions who participated in European #SARAdvocacyDays! We look forward to seeing what the next generation of #academicfreedom defenders does next. Learn more about Student Advocacy Seminars here:
www.scholarsatrisk.org/actions/stud...
Students also heard from Stella Nyanzi, former wrongfully imprisoned scholar from Uganda and now @ruhr-uni-bochum.de scholar, and Oleksandr Shtokvych, senior program manager at @weareceu.bsky.social, who shared moving personal stories about defending #academicfreedom in autocratic contexts.
SAR was grateful to be joined by Othmar Karas, former VP of the @europarl.europa.eu, who reminded European #SARAdvocacyDays participants: “Liberal #democracy is the framework that allows for academic freedom. Academic freedom is therefore a democratic pillar.”
From Feb. 19-20, MCI hosted a community of 90 students, faculty, & govt leaders across Europe to address rising authoritarianism, build networks of solidarity, and strengthen SAR seminar students’ capacity to advocate for #wrongfullyimprisoned scholars globally.
Thank you to MCI | The Entrepreneurial School staff and rector Andreas Altmann for hosting European #SARAdvocacyDays in honor of the #SAR25 Anniversary year! As a SAR Network member, MCI’s work is integral to fostering the next generation of #academicfreedom advocates.
#MSCA4Ukraine: Research, resilience and solidarity - four years on 🇺🇦
On the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the MSCA4Ukraine scheme expresses its unwavering solidarity with Ukraine’s research community.
Read more via the links in the comment.
After years of crackdowns, the #Venezuelan student movement is experiencing a revival. ElNacionalWeb.bsky.social reports on how students see the country’s moment of political uncertainty as an opportunity to “return to the front lines to defend #democracy”: www.elnacional.com/2026/02/el-m...
Thank you to the Newport Art Museum for inviting SAR Executive Director Robert Quinn to join their ongoing Winter Speaker Series! Watch "Because life is not a yes/no question: Why academic freedom matters to everyone:” https://ow.ly/lg1I50YhhGm
Citing “increasingly severe pressures,” the Hong Kong Federation of Students—once central to #HongKong’s pro-democracy movements—disbanded this past week, underscoring the eroding space for student activism and #academicfreedom in the region.
www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-as...
Amid current crackdowns on dissent in #Iran, Mehareen’s story is a grave reminder of the country’s long history of repression against academics who speak out against the regime—and the severe repercussions they continue to face long after their arrest.
www.scholarsatrisk.org/report/2025-...
As of Feb. 8, assistant prof. Mostafa Mehareen of the Institute for Humanities and Cultural Studies, has begun serving 8 yrs in prison for openly calling on #Iran’s leader Ali Khamenei to resign in June 2025.
www.radiofarda.com/a/33671293.h...
On Feb. 10, #wrongfullyimprisoned PhD student Bahruz Samadov in #Azerbaijan ended his hunger strike after finally being able to call his grandmother. While this is welcome news, the intl community must keep calling to #FreeBahruz and ensure his safety.
https://www.eng.kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/72715
SAR’s February 2026 newsletter is out now! See the latest from the SAR network, including an invitation to a webinar on March 5th to hear directly from SAR staff and scholars on supporting threatened scholars. https://ow.ly/sHfX50YcxSk
This includes the cancellation of certain classes and the announced closure of the University’s Women’s & Gender Studies Program. Read SAR’s reporting of this case at Texas A&M: www.scholarsatrisk.org/report/2025-...
Scholars at Risk is one of 37 organizations writing to the Board of Regents of Texas A&M University today to request that they rescind policies that have resulted in censorship of course content. Read and sign: www.scholarsatrisk.org/2026/02/lett...
"‘The Mobile Rings in the Pockets of the Dead: Parents Calling Their Children’ Political Violence amid Declining Legitimacy: Patterns of State Repression.” A piece by Dr. Sabet Sarvestany, a SAR-assisted scholar of women and gender studies from #Iran: https://ow.ly/tfzW50YbO0U
This is deeply disturbing news. Despite the state’s lack of evidence for charges of “high treason,” Bahruz will face 15 years in prison and serious health and safety risks. SAR urges the intl community to condemn the charges and work to #FreeBahruz now: www.scholarsatrisk.org/actions/bahr...
🚨 Today, shortly after a court in #Azerbaijan rejected his attempt to appeal a transfer to a maximum security prison, #wrongfullyimprisoned PhD student Bahruz Samadov announced he would go on an indefinite hunger strike.
oc-media.org/samadov-lose...
