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Solidarity towards Ukraine

Osnabrück University is very concerned to show solidarity towards Ukraine, to strengthen the idea of peace that is deeply rooted in Osnabrück and to actively support the people afflicted by the war. This war in the middle of Europe affects us all. We stand by the side of the people in Ukraine in these difficult times.

Join us in sending a signal for peace and democracy! This page points you to our offers on this topic as well as links to ways of providing practical help.

Appeal for donations

University and Universitätsgesellschaft Osnabrück ask for donations for students and academics affected by the war in Ukraine

Together with the University Society, the University of Osnabrück has set up an emergency fund for students and academics affected by the current war. You can participate in this: With your donation to the emergency fund, you will be making a valuable contribution to enabling those affected in Osnabrück to receive fast, unbureaucratic help on the spot!

Support from the newly created emergency fund will be given to international students at our university who have fallen on hard times due to the war in Ukraine, so that they can successfully continue their studies. In addition, the University and the University Society would like to offer students and academics at our University who have fled and are threatened by the war a perspective to continue their studies or research work in Osnabrück as guests. The emergency fund provides short-term, fast and unbureaucratic immediate and bridging aid for those affected by the war in Ukraine.

Please send your donation for the emergency fund to:

Osnabrück University Society
Keyword "Ukraine Emergency Fund
Sparkasse Osnabrück
IBAN: DE 1726 5501 0500 0006 8270

We call on all members of the University, sponsors, alumni and friends to participate within their means with a monetary donation. Set a sign of solidarity and for science! Every contribution counts.

Appeal for donations from our partner university in Czernowitz

The Chernivtsi Yuri Fedkovich University and the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München are calling for a donation campaign for the Bukovina region! As a partner university of the University in Chernivtsi, we are pleased to participate in this appeal. Mehr Informationen

Ukraine Aid Osnabrück – Kraków – Ternopil e.V.

The newly founded non-profit association based in Osnabrück supports the Ukrainian civilian population suffering from the Russo-Ukrainian war as well as war refugees. It is based on a network of professors from the universities of Osnabrück (Germany), Kraków (Poland) and Ternopil (Ukraine). The main contact person in Ukraine is professor Serhii Banakh, Dean of the Faculty of Law at Ternopil University and officer of the reserve. He communicates the specific need of supplies and personally takes care of the distribution in the Ukraine. The close personal relationships between the actors in Germany, Poland and the Ukraine make it possible to provide help that is extremely needs-oriented and at very short notice. Already in the first weeks of the war, it was possible to provide extensive aid deliveries, which included medical goods (painkillers, bandages, etc.), clothing (gloves, etc.), technical equipment (flashlights, power banks, etc.) and a minibus. The latter is used to transport goods from Ternopil in western Ukraine to eastern Ukraine and to transport refugees in the opposite direction.

Founding members of the association include the Osnabrück law professors Dr. Dr. h.c. Friederik Zoll and Dr. Lars Leuschner. Professor Zoll is also a professor at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków and an honorary professor at the Western Ukrainian University of Ternopil (Interview with Fryderyk Zoll in ARD podcast). Another founding member of the association is Dr. medical Robert Schönberg from Hamburg, whose son is studying at the law faculty in Osnabrück, and who is responsible for the procurement of medical supplies.

Monetary donations for further aid deliveries to Ukraine are very welcome. Donors receive a donation receipt. Prof. Leuschner, the managing director of the association, is available for further information: lars.leuschner@uos.de

Donation account:
Sparkasse Osnabrück
Ukrainer-Hilfe Osnabrück – Krakau – Ternopil e. V.
IBAN: DE32 2655 0105 1552 2824 67

Tax number: 66/270/05305 (Finanzamt Osnabrück-Stadt)
Association register: VR 202204 (Amtsgericht Osnabrück)

Support for our students

Many students from Russia and Ukraine are enrolled at our university. Some of these students are cut off from their financial resources. Together with the Student Union, we are currently working on solutions for these students and ask them to come forward if financial challenges need to be addressed due to the war. The president would like to note at this point that no Russian (or Belarusian) students are being exmatriculated from universities in Germany! Such false reports are obviously being spread in the social media at the moment. Our students and staff are under the protective umbrella of the university, regardless of their origin.

Support programs for students and scientists

Future Fund Scholarships for the Summer Semester 2023

For the summer semester 2023, Osnabrück University’s International Office will be awarding Future Fund Scholarships (PDF, 301 kB) to prospective and current students of Osnabrück University that are affected by the Ukraine crisis. The scholarship is awarded to cover study-related expenses. Application form (PDF, 389 kB)

Special funding from the "Stiftung Innovation in der Hochschullehre"

With the special funding "Securing Learning and Teaching. Focus on Ukraine", the foundation has created an offer for German universities that want to respond to the consequences of the war for students and scientists from Ukraine. Especially universities that already have relations with Ukrainian universities are addressed. Applications can be submitted as of now. A total funding volume of up to 1 million euros is available.

Hilde Domin Program

The DAAD's Hilde Domin Program is a scholarship program for at-risk students and doctoral candidates who shall be enabled to continue and complete their studies and/or research projects at German universities. Funding is available regardless of whether the individual is still abroad or already in Germany. After nomination via this portal , students apply themselves. Nominations by the Schools/Institutes can be made at any time! Further information

in addition, The DAAD has collected various support programs.

Program Volkswagen Foundation

The VW Foundation has launched a nationwide program to enable universities to bring Ukrainian scientists to Germany so that they can continue their research activities. The funding covers a period of 6-12 months and addresses PhD students as well as postdocs and established scientists of all disciplines. Detailed information

If you would like to propose Ukrainian scientists for funding, you can submit the application until April 5, 2022. Grants are awarded on a first-come, first-served basis! Please send the complete application forms to Dr. Stephanie Schröder, Decentralized Internationalization (stephanie.schroeder@uni-osnabrueck.de, Tel.: +49 541 969 6164).

Philipp Schwartz Initiative

The application deadline for the 11th call of the Phillip Schwartz Initiative has ended.
The 12th call of the Phillip Schwartz Initiative is expected to start in June 2022.

Walter Benjamin-Programme

The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) supports researchers who have fled their home countries by making it easier for them to join research projects and apply for funding under the Walter Benjamin Programme. More informationen (DFG)

We are currently working at full speed to supply funds of our own in order to facilitate guest stays for Ukrainian and other academics and students threatened by the war. We are also trying to create opportunities to bring in donations specifically for this purpose.

Google Doc

You don't have any contact to Ukrainian researchers yet, but you are still open to hosting them in your research group? You may add your team to this international Google Doc. Our affiliation is "Osnabrück University".

Existing DFG-funded projects

In addition, it's always possible to try and involve at-risk researchers at all scientific career stages in existing DFG-funded research projects. All information

#ScienceForUkraine

Under the hashtag #ScienceForUkraine, a community group of volunteer students and research scientists from academic institutions in Europe and around the world. have joined together.Their mission is to collect and disseminate information about support opportunities at the university, national, and international level for graduate students and researchers directly affiliated to an academic institution in Ukraine. Website

National Academic Contact Point Ukraine

The German Academic Exchange Service offers information about the first orientation in Germany and especially in the German higher education and research system. You will also find an overview of different help offers in academia. Visit website

Contact persons for students and scientists:

For students:

For scientists:

Turn of the Times - Special Osnabrück Peace Forum on the War in Ukraine

The war of aggression and breach of international law that we are currently experiencing represents a turning point that we all never thought possible. In order to assess the situation in Ukraine from a scientific perspective and to shed light on the events and their implications, an ad-hoc peace forum on the war in Ukraine was held on March 7, 2022. Renowned scholars from Osnabrück University and WWU Münster discussed the historical roots of the conflict and examine the concept of national identity in both countries. They also analysed the sanctions imposed on Russia in terms of effectiveness and global impact. In addition, the topics of flight and migration and the role of Germany throughout the conflict were considered.

The panel included

Prof. Dr. Valeriya Dinger, economist at the Institute for Empirical Economic Research at Osnabrück University

Dr. Franck Düvell, migration scientist at the Institute for Migration Research and Intercultural Studies (IMIS) at Osnabrück University, who was working in Ukraine until a few days ago

Prof. Dr. Ulrich Schneckener, political scientist, head of the Center for Conflict Studies and Peace Research at Osnabrück University as well as a member of IMIS

Prof. Dr. Ricarda Vulpius, historian at Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, whose research is focused on Russian and Ukrainian history

The discussion was chaired by University President, Prof. Dr. Susanne Menzel-Riedl.

Offers of the city of Osnabrück

All people who flee to us from Ukraine are dependent on our help and support. The city of Osnabrück has compiled important information on this and set up a registration platform where you can offer housing, for example.

Participation in German government's sanctions policy

This war will also lead to severe upheavals and restrictions in science. This is a very difficult situation, as the University of Osnabrück maintains many lively contacts in the region and has built up its internationalisation strategy under the paradigm "Academia has always continued". In spite of everything, the University of Osnabrück will follow the DAAD's call in the short term in solidarity with our Ukrainian partners, also in order not to counteract the German government's sanctions policy. However, we are strongly committed to a medium- and long-term policy that does not lose the young intellectual class in Russia - often explicit critics of the war.

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