The initiative was created by the Australian academics and researchers from Ukraine, Russia and Belarus, and later joined by other colleagues.



Dear Provost / Vice-Chancellor,

We are a broad group of academics and researchers across Australian universities and research organisations who stand against the military aggression of the Russian Federation in Ukraine and oppose the Russian and Belarusian regimes’ brutal repression of those who have spoken out against the war, and for freedom and human rights.

Thousands of Ukrainian students can not continue their studies because their cities are being bomb shelled by the Russian military. Thousands of people in Russia are protesting against the war every day, and many have been arrested since the start of the conflict. Among them, there are many university students. The recent news is that many students have been forced out of universities and can no longer study. The same happened to the students in Belarus in 2020. To support these young people, many European universities have offered placements and scholarships so that such students could continue studying.

Those young, intelligent, and brave people are our hope for a better future. We are calling on all Australian universities to consider special enrolment options and scholarships for undergraduate and postgraduate students who cannot continue their studies in Ukraine due to the Russian military aggression. We also ask to consider extending such offerings to the students of Belarus and Russia, who publicly took a stand against the war and, as a result, are no longer able to continue their studies.

Sincerely yours,

1. Dr Slava Kitaeff, Associate Director eResearch, Monash University
2. Dr Elena Govor, Research Scholar, School of Culture, History & Language, CAP, Australian National University
3. Professor Elena Ostrovskaya, Associate Director (Research), Research School of Physics, ANU
4. Dr Leonid Petrov, Visiting Fellow, The Australian National University, CAP, SCHL
5. Professor Sergei Kuzenko, Department of Physics, The University of Western Australia
6. Dr Gennadi Kazakevitch, Former Deputy Head, Economics Department, Monash University
7. Dr Anna Guller, Macquarie University, Research Fellow, Macquarie University
8. Professor Ilya Shadrivov, Professor, The Australian National University
9. Dr Liliana Ciobanu, Senior Research Fellow, The University of Adelaide
10. Professor Mikhail Kostylev, Professor, University of Western Australia
11. Dr Vanessa Tan, Research manager, UNSW
12. Professor Andrei V Rode, Emeritus Professor, Australian National University
13. Dr Sergey Kruk, Fellow, Research School of Physics, Australian National University
14. Professor Fedor Iskhakov, Research School of Economics, Australian National University
15. Dr Ilya Fomin, PostDoc, Macquarie University
16. Dr Greg Dolgopolov, Senior Lecturer, UNSW
17. Dr Nailya Kitaeff, Lecturer, School of Human Sciences, The University of Western Australia
18. Dr Ksenia Gnevsheva, Senior Lecturer in Linguistics, ANU
19. Dr Ekaterina Vylomova, Research Fellow, The University of Melbourne
20. Dr Nataliya Perevoshchikova, Research Fellow, The Griffith University
21. Professor Mikhail Anufriev, Department of Economics, UTS Business School, University of Technology Sydney
22. Dr Oleksii Birulin, Snr. Lecturer, MEcA Program Director, Sydney University, School of Economics
23. Dr Anastasia Burkovskaya, Senior Lecturer, University of Sydney, School of Economics
24. Professor Valentyn Panchenko, Professor of Economics, UNSW Business School
25. Dr Oleg Titov, Research Scientist, Geoscience Australia
26. Dr Ekaterina Strounina, Facility Manager, University of Queensland
27. Dr Nina M. Khaze, Academic, Macquarie University
28. Dr Marina Iskhakova, Senior Lecturer, Research School of Economics, Australian National University
29. A/Professor Shawn Joseph Wentzel, Casual Lecturer, South Metropolitan Tafe Western Australia
30. Professor Alexandra Y. Aikhenvald, Adjunct Professor and Australian Laureate Fellow, The Jawun Research Centre, Central Queensland University
31. Dr Maria Spichkova, Senior Lecturer, School of Computing Technologies, RMIT University
32. Dr Ekaterina Heath, Research Associate, The University of Sydney
33. Professor Valentin Zelenyuk, The University of Queensland
34. Professor Tim Senden, Director, Research School of Physics, ANU
35. Professor Nicholas David Evans, Distinguished Professor of Linguistics, Australian National University
36. Professor Eugene Aidman, School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Newcastle
37. Dr Maria Schreider, Lecturer, University of Newcastle
38. Dr Konstantin Shamray, Lecturer, University of Adelaide , Elder Conservatorium
39. Professor Sean Smith, Professor of Computational Nanomaterials Science and Technology, ANU
40. Dr AJ Mitchell, Senior Lecturer, Australian National University
41. A/Professor Mohammad Saadatfar, University of Sydney
42. Professor Jodie Bradby, Head of the Dept of Materials Physics, Research School of Physics, ANU
43. Dr Tanya Soboleva, Group Leader, The John Curtin School of Medical Research, ANU
44. Dr Ludovic Rapp, Senior Research Fellow, Research School of Physics, Australian National University
45. Dr Olena Stavrunova, Associate Professor, University of Technology Sydney
46. Professor Dragomir Neshev, Director ARC Centre of Excellence for Transformative Meta-Optical Systems, ANU
47. Dr Matt Thompson, Postdoctoral Fellow, Australian National University
48. Dr Sean Hodgman, Fellow, Research School of Physics, The Australian National University
49. Professor Patrick Kluth, Associate Director HDR Research School of Physics, Australian National University
50. Dr Vladimir Tyazhelnikov, Lecturer, University of Sydney, School of Economics
51. Dr Noemie Bastidon, Research fellow, Research school of physics, ANU
52. Dr Julie Tournet, Research fellow, Australian National University
53. Dr Maryna Bilokur, Postdoctoral Fellow, ANU
54. Professor Cedric Simenel, Head of Department, Research School of Physics, ANU
55. Professor Michael Fuhrer, Monash University
56. Dr Giovanni Guccione, Research Fellow Research School of Physics, Australian National University
57. A/Professor Agustin E. Schiffrin, Monash University
58. Professor Xiaolin Wang, Director, University of Wollongong
59. Dr Semonti Bhattacharyya, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Monash University
60. Professor Jeffrey Davis, Professor of Physics, Swinburne University of Technology
61. A/Professor Dimitrie Culcer, Associate Professor, UNSW Sydney
62. Professor Matthew Colless, Director, Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics, ANU
63. Dr Tatiana Tchernova, University Research Coordinator, Swinburne University of Technology
64. Dr Andriy Pototskyy, Senior Lecturer, Swinburne University
65. Professor Andrew Truscott, Head of Department, Quantum Science and Technology, ANU
66. Dr Oleh Klochan, Lecturer, School of Science, UNSW Canberra
67. Dr Eliezer Estrecho, Research Fellow, The Australian National University
68. Professor Meera Parish, Monash University
69. Dr Zhanna Sarsenbayeva, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, The University of Melbourne
71. Dr Maria Jahromi, Lecturer, Australian National University
72. Professor Adrian Sheppard, Research School of Physics, Australian National University
73. Dr Golrokh Akhgar, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Monash University
74. Professor Saulius Juodkazis, Swinburne University of Technology
75. Professor Ping Koy Lam, Australian National University
76. Dr Julie Karel, Lecturer, Monash University
77. Dr Elena Atroshchenko, Senior Lecturer School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, UNSW Sydney
78. Professor Andreas Wicenec, Director Data Intensive Astronomy The University of Western Australia
79. Dr Jun Zhang, ARC DECRA Fellow Griffith University
80. Dr Andrei Komar, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Australian National University
81. Dr Mark T. Edmonds, Lecturer, School of Physics and Astronomy, Monash University
82. Professor Kenneth Crozier, Professor of Physics and Electronic Engineering, University of Melbourne
83. Dr Sebastian Kish, Research Fellow, Australian National University
84. Professor Adam Micolich, Professor, Physics, UNSW
85. A/Professor Alex Polyakov, Fertility Specialist and Associate Professor, University of Melbourne Medical  School, University of Melbourne and Melbourne IVF
86. Professor Lan Fu, Research School of Physics, Australian National University
87. Professor Mahananda Dasgupta, Director Heavy Ion Accelerator Facility, Australian National University
88. Dr Maria Kozlovskaia, Research Support Officer, University of Canberra
89. Dr Olga Ilyichova, Research Fellow Monash University/ ANSTO Australian Synchrotron
90. Dr Nadia Zatsepin, Senior Research Fellow, La Trobe University
91. Dr Jayden Newstead, Postdoctoral fellow, University of Melbourne
92. Dr Foivos Diakogiannis, Senior Research Fellow - Data Science, The University of Western Australia
93. A/Professor Martin Tomko, The University of Melbourne
94. A/Professor Andrei Sidorov, Adjunct Professor, Swinburne University of Technology
95. A/Professor Anton Kolotilin, Associate Professor of Economics, UNSW Business School
96. Dr Stuart Earl, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Swinburne University of Technology
97. Professor Gabriele Gratton, UNSW
98. Dr Yana Izdebskaya, Research Fellow, The Australian National University
99. Dr Karl Wette, Research Fellow, Australian National University
100. Professor Elena Pereloma, Senior Professor, University of Wollongong
101. Dr David Cortie, Senior Lecturer, University of Wollonong / Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation
102. Professor Madeleine Du Toit, University of Wollongong
103. Professor Matthew Barnett, Director, Institute for Frontier Materials, Deakin University
104. Dr Valbona Merxhushi, School Manager, University of Wollongong
105. Dr Dr. Oksana King, Director of Studies, AEMG Academy
106. Professor Alex Remennikov, Professor in Civil Engineering, University of Wollongong
107. Professor Peter Hodgson, Alfed Deakin Professor and former ARC Laureate Fellow, Deakin University
108. Professor Andrej Atrens, Em Prof, The University of Queensland
109. Professor Marko Pavlyshyn, Emeritus Professor, School of Languages, literatures, Cultures and 110. Linguistics, Monash University
110. Professor Murat Yucel, Professorial Fellow, Monash University
111. A/Professor Ross Marceau, Associate Professor, Institute for Frontier Materials, Deakin University
112. Dr Maria del Rocio Camacho Morales, Research Fellow, The Australian National University
113. Professor Gordon Wallace, Director ACES/IPRI, University of Wollongong
114. Dr Paul Zulli, Director, ARC Research Hub for Australian Steel Innovation, University of Wollongong
115. Professor Geoffrey Spinks, Senior Professor and Head of School, Mechanical, Materials and Mechatronic Engineering University of Wollongong
116. Dr Olivier Bleu, Research Fellow, Monash University
117. Professor Julie Cairney, Pro Vice Chancellor Research Enterprise and Engagement, The University of Sydney
118. Dr Zarasyan Anna, Former Lecturer in Composition, Sydney Conservatorium, the University of Sydney
119. Dr Nina Kononenko, Research associate, The University of Sydney and Australian Museum
120. Dr Oleg Yerokhin, Senior Lecturer, University of Wollongong
121. Dr Andrii Kostryzhev, Project Manager, University of Queensland
122. Professor Talis Putnins, University of Technology Sydney
123. Dr Ray Low, Senior Materials Engineer, The University of Queensland
124. Professor Robert Parton, Professorial Research Fellow, The University of Queensland
125. Dr Esther Mirjam Girsberger, Lecturer University of Technology Sydney
126. Dr Olexandra Marenych, Scientific Officer, The University of Queensland
127. A/Professor Archil Kobakhidze, Associate Professor of Physics, The University of Sydney
128. Dr Anton Moiseienko, Lecturer in Law, ANU
129. Professor Paul Bonnington, Director of eResearch, Monash University
130. Professor Anatoly Rozenfelld, Dist.Professor and Director of CMRP, University of Wollongong
131. A/Professor Anastasiia Kuleshova, Students as Partners program support, USC
132. Dr Nataliia Sergiienko, Lecturer, University of Adelaide
133. Dr Marta Khomyn, Lecturer, University of Adelaide
134. Dr Jelena Schmalz, Lecturer, University of New England
135. Dr Lincoln Turner, Senior Lecturer, School of Physics & Astronomy, Monash University
136. Professor Penelope King, The Australian National University
137. Dr Alison Wain, Assistant Professor in Heritage and Materials Conservation, University of Canberra
138. Dr Ana Casas Ramos, Academic Staff, ANU
139. Professor Vincent Craig, Professor, ANU