Consequences of the Ukraine war: research between rubble and power failures

Status: 12/31/2022 4:59 p.m

Destroyed buildings, power outages and financial problems: the war is making research and teaching in Ukraine extremely difficult. Many scientists therefore flee abroad – but want to return.

By Marc Dugge, HR

The city of Kharkiv in north-eastern Ukraine is the scientific center of Ukraine. Here alone, ten large research institutions of the National Academy of Sciences are located. There are also more than 50 universities and colleges.

During this war, Kharkiv was repeatedly shelled for months. Research facilities were also damaged – such as the renowned Institute for Physics and Technology. In Soviet times, the first Soviet atomic bomb was developed here, today the research work is subsidized there with American funds. This enabled the institute to build a particle accelerator, for example. This was completely destroyed by repeated rocket fire in March and June. Despite the “dramatic damage” in November, inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency were unable to detect any increased radioactivity.

The war and the consequences for science

In a mini-series we want to shed light on the consequences of the Ukraine war for the scientific landscape. The first part is about Russia, which suffers from the sanctions, but at the same time tightens the repression. In the second part we look at Ukraine, where many university buildings are damaged, funding is uncertain and many students and researchers are being drafted into military service. And finally, it’s about Germany, the main destination of Ukrainian academics who have fled, and the question of how they can be integrated into the research system here – and how that can also help a subsequent reconstruction of Ukraine.

Home office or escape

Les Belej is a Ukrainian journalist who has researched how science has been affected. “In the summer, the Institute of Physics and Technology tried for a long time to keep research going in the buildings. Today, many employees are working from home – just like in Corona times,” he says.

Many universities are trying to repair the damage and resume teaching, for example with online courses. In times of constant power outages, this is no easy task. In addition, many Ukrainian students have fled abroad. Most foreign students left anyway.

Significant damage to infrastructure

The damage to scientific institutions is often considerable. This also applies to the radio observatory near Kharkiv, which scientists use to measure the radiation from planets, for example. “It’s a huge area with about 1,500 antennas, each about eight meters long,” says Belej. “The Russians used it as an artillery position. The observatory’s control center is now destroyed.”

The “Institute for Super Hard Materials” is based in Kyiv. Thirteen of the Institute’s buildings were damaged, some seriously, in an attack by the Russian army. “These super-hard materials are very important for the military industry,” explains Belej. “So the army probably shot the institute with a rocket on purpose.” Scientific operations are difficult to maintain under these conditions.

This also applies to the Institute for Geophysics, which observes earthquakes all over the world. The measuring point in Mykolaiv in southern Ukraine was recently only able to register artillery explosions – no longer seismic activity.

Difficult financial situation

According to the science magazine “Science”, a good 50,000 scientists continue to live and work in Ukraine. They also live and research under difficult financial conditions. The Ukrainian government has cut funding for many universities: Kharkiv’s Karasin University, for example, has 15 percent less money at its disposal this year. Universities are often forced not to renew contracts.

If you are lucky, you will receive funding from abroad. There are numerous initiatives in Europe and the USA to help researchers in Ukraine. There are also donations: for example, the winner of the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade, Serhij Schadan, has just donated the equivalent of more than 12,000 euros for the library of Karasin University.

escape abroad

Around 1,300 researchers have fled abroad. Since men of military age are usually not able to leave the country, they are mostly women and men over 60. “I have visited about ten different institutions, between ten and 30 percent of their scientists are abroad,” says the journalist Belej.

Many of them had already worked with research institutes abroad before the war. According to Belej, some scientists used the time for a fellowship and planned to go back. “It’s hard to say if they’ll actually do that. But a certain percentage will come back.”

Collaboration: Ivan Gayvanovych, Kyiv. Marc Dugge was recently in the Ukraine for research.

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