Scholars at Risk safeguards academic freedom around the world and works to provide protection for researchers and teachers who cannot be active in their home countries. The network consists of 500 universities and is active in 40 countries. Since the end of March, the University of Skövde is also included.
Scholars at Risk (SAR) is a network that works to promote academic freedom in the world. In many countries, scholars are at risk of being discriminated against, censored, threatened or persecuted. SAR's purpose is to provide protection to academics in such vulnerable situations.
The University of Skövde has been part of the network since the end of March. This means that a scholar who needs protection, and who is enlisted at SAR, could be offered employment at the University of Skövde.
“If we see that a researcher or teacher's subject field matches with any of our fields at the University of Skövde, we have the opportunity to welcome them and, provided that there is funding, offer a shorter employment," says Mikael Ejdebäck, Deputy Vice Chancellor for internationalisation at the University of Skövde.
In line with HRS4R
The University of Skövde is one of fourteen higher education institutions in Sweden that have been approved by the European Commission to use the HR Excellence Award in Research, HRS4R. This means that the University meets the EU's high quality goals in areas such as recruitment, personnel care, competence development and the work environment when it comes to researchers. The fact that the University is now also part of SAR is completely in line with the work with HRS4R.
“In HRS4R there are four areas. Under the area "Ethical Principles and Professional Responsibility" there is "Research Freedom". So far, we have not had any planned activities within it, but the fact that we have now joined SAR means that we can thereby contribute to Research Freedom," says Cecilia Harryson, HR Specialist and contact person for SAR at the University.
The Scholars at Risk network consists of 500 universities in 40 countries. In Sweden, 26 higher education institutions are members of the network, and there are also members in the form of science academies, research institutes and unions. The Swedish part of SAR is coordinated by the University of Gothenburg.
