Science in Exile

Scientists in conflict areas like Syria, Yemen and Iraq talk about the atrocities and lack of freedom they experience in their home countries. Academics in these areas were silenced by the media and some even fled to safer countries with no censorship. How did these scientists survive during times of conflict? 

Several initiatives were developed to help refugees feel more at home in Nijmegen. What’s it like to find out that you have to start your degree program all over again in your new homeland? Is academic knowledge universally valuable? Ricky van Oers from Radboud University will explain the efforts the RU Refugee Workgroup is making to help refugees with an academic background transition to Dutch academia. She will discuss this issue with experiential experts Dawit Tesfay and Shahira Sharaf. Tesfay has a bachelor’s degree in Archeology, but never got the chance to be an archeologist and is now reorienting towards Human Geography. Sharaf has a PhD in philosophy and focusses her research on migration issues and integration policies in the Netherlands.