UCC is a proud member of the Ireland section of Scholars at Risk.

About Scholars at Risk

Scholars at Risk (SAR) is an international network of higher education institutions and associations whose mission is to protect threatened scholars and promote academic freedom. By arranging temporary academic positions at member universities and colleges, Scholars at Risk offers safety to scholars facing grave threats, so scholars’ ideas are not lost and they can keep working until conditions improve and they are able to return to their home countries.

Understanding Academic Freedom 

Scholars at Risk also provides advisory services for scholars and hosts, campaigns for scholars who are imprisoned or silenced in their home countries, monitoring of attacks on higher education communities worldwide, and leadership in deploying new tools and strategies for promoting academic freedom and improving respect for university values everywhere.

Seeking Assistance

If you are seeking assistance, there are a number of different possible sources of aid available:

Scholars at Risk Europe, hosted at Maynooth University, is the European office of the global Scholars at Risk network.  Their website is https://sareurope.eu where you will find more information.  In the first instance, please connect with Scholars at Risk and see if you can register with them. You will need to complete the Application for Assistance if you have not done so already.  The application form can be accessed at https://www.scholarsatrisk.org/secure-submission/.  You can also contact sareurope@mu.ie directly if you are having difficulty. 

The Irish Aid Fellowships Ireland Programme enables postgraduate students to benefit from a prestigious, world-class, quality education contributing to capacity building whilst also profiling the best that Ireland has to offer in education. A range of different strands are offered under the Programme. Each strand has a different focus in terms of eligible countries and subject areas.  For more information see https://www.irishaidfellowships.ie/strands

Cara (the Council for At-Risk Academics) provides urgently-needed help to academics in immediate danger, those forced into exile, and many who choose to work on in their home countries despite serious risks. Cara also supports higher education institutions whose work is at risk or compromised.  Their website is: https://www.cara.ngo/

SAR-Ireland

Universities Ireland is the SAR-Ireland Section and partner of the Scholars at Risk Network.

This partnership between Universities Ireland and the Scholars at Risk network provides support to threatened academics around the world, including by arranging temporary placements in Ireland to allow them to safely continue their work.  Member institutions of the Section include: Trinity College Dublin, University College Dublin, NUI Galway, NUI Maynooth, Queen’s University Belfast, University of Ulster, University of Limerick, University College Cork, Dublin City University, and the Open University.

SAR Europe, hosted at Maynooth University, is the European office of the global Scholars at Risk network. The European office supports and coordinates the activities of Scholars at Risk national sections and partner networks across Europe, to strengthen our collective voice and contribute to informed policymaking for the greater protection of scholars and increased respect for academic freedom worldwide.

UCC/SAR Events

SAR Speaker Series

The Scholars at Risk Speaker Series educates campus communities and the public about threats to academic freedom and attacks on scholars. The series provides an opportunity for organizations to invite at-risk scholars for short visits to share their powerful stories in a personal, meaningful way.

Pictured here with Dr Angela Flynn is Dr Prosper Maguchu from Zimbabwe who visited us here in UCC as part of UCC Refugee week 2019, a visit that was co-hosted by IFUT.

Dr Maguchu was welcomed by President Patrick O’Shea. Photographed also is Orla Duke Programme Manager, Scholars at Risk Europe, based at Maynooth University.

UCC Refugee Week

Dr Angela Flynn provided an overview of SAR Ireland as part of UCC Refugee week 2021. You can watch the recording of the event here.

Institute of Physics

The Institute of Physics has extended its Benevolent Fund to assist professional physicists affected by the war in Ukraine.  Applicants are not required to be members of IOP and can apply through the IOP website.

Further Information

The current UCC representatives on the SAR Ireland committee are Dr Angela Flynn (School of Nursing & Midwifery) and Dr Laurence Davis (Dept Government & Politics).

SAR Ireland: The Ireland Section of Scholars at Risk was launched by Iranian Nobel Peace Prize winner Dr Shirin Ebadi at Trinity College Dublin in September 2009. This partnership between Universities Ireland and the Scholars at Risk Network provides support to threatened academics around the world, including by arranging temporary placements in Ireland to allow them to safely continue their work. Visit SAR Ireland’s section page or contact Anthony Soares or Rowena Pecchenino to learn more.

To understand Scholars at Risk more visit the website here. You may also wish to review the slides that were used by Dr Angela Flynn in a presentation on SAR as part of UCC Refugee week 2021.