On 16 November from 10:00 to 12:45 CET, ACA members the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), the Norwegian Directorate for Higher Education and Skills (HK-dir) and the Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange (NAWA) are organising a timely and relevant hybrid event on the topic of Defending Academic Freedom by Supporting Students at Risk. Towards a European Approach?.

As the tense situation in Belarus - and more recently in Afghanistan - have accentuated the need to support student human rights activists at risk of persecution in their home countries, several European countries have responded with relevant support programmes or schemes. European stakeholders have also pronounced calls for action at European level, coordinating efforts to defend academic freedom as a core European value by supporting students at risk, such as the European University Association and the European Students’ Union.

The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) has recently started a scholarship programme for students at risk (Hilde Domin Programme); the Norwegian Directorate for Higher Education and Skills (HK-dir) has a students at risk-programme running since 2013; and the Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange (NAWA) has started a programme targeting students at risk from Belarus.

The joint hybrid event in Brussels/online will be targeting European policy makers and stakeholders, to:

• inform about national programmes protecting students at risk;
• give a voice to students, who have benefitted from these existing programmes;
• explore possibilities to complement, coordinate and expand the support for students at risk at European level.

The programme and registrations are available here.

If you are interested in the resources available to students and researchers at risk in a number of European countries, make sure to have a look at results of two of ACA’s recent projects: Career Advancement for Refugee Researchers in Europe (CARE) and Guiding Refugees via European Exchange and Training (GREET).