Pre-war, one of the largest neurological medical conferences held in Sudak, Ukraine.
The days before Feb. 24, 2020, Ukrainian scientist Olena Iarmosh was teaching a higher education course in the city of Kharkiv, where she had been a professor for 16 years. Then, in the early morning hours of Feb. 24, the bombing started—Russia had officially declared war on Ukraine.
Iarmosh stayed in her apartment throughout the bombardment for nine days before fleeing westward, first in western Ukraine, until the bombing started there too. She then fled to Switzerland, all the while maintaining her teaching duties online. Iarmosh eventually landed a temporary position at Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL).
Of course, Iarmosh is not the only scientist to flee a war-torn Ukraine. In one of the most comprehensive surveys on the topic yet, EPFL researcher Gaétan de Rassenfosse estimates Ukraine has lost almost 20% of its top scientists during the last four years of war.
In a study published in Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, de Rassenfosse and his team surveyed a representative cohort of 2,559 scientists online between September 21 and Dec. 8, 2022. All surveyed scientists were employed by a Ukrainian research institution when Russia invaded on February 24.
The data shows 18.5% of the surveyed scientists had left Ukraine since the start of the war, similar to the overall percentage of the Ukrainian population who had left in the same time frame. Scientists who were more productive and research-active were more likely to have left.
The authors also found that 17.6% of the scientists had left academia or scientific research, with those who had emigrated 17% more likely to have left academia or scientific research than those who remained. Finally, the average time per week each scientist spent on research activities had reduced from 13 hours to 10 hours, equating to Ukraine having lost about 20% of its overall scientific research capacity.
However, not all scientists have emigrated. For that that have remained, though, conditions are not ideal. According to the survey, 23.5% of scientists who remain in Ukraine have lost access to critical input for their research, while 20.8% cannot physically access their institution.
“Of the scientists who stay in Ukraine, if still alive, about 15% have left research, and others have little time to devote to research given the circumstances of war,” said de Rassenfosse.
The authors note that their estimates are likely to be conservative, as the scientists most affected by the war are the least likely to respond to the survey. They also highlight that, although 58% of the emigrant scientists were affiliated to a non-Ukrainian research organization, only 14% had secured a long-term contract.
“The provision of more and longer scholarships emerges as a paramount concern for migrant scientists,” said de Rassenfosse. “As for scientists still in Ukraine, [our] study suggests that institutions across Europe and beyond can offer a host of support programs, such as remote visiting programs, access to digital libraries and computing resources, as well as collaborative research grants.”
Iarmosh has since left EPFL, and now has a temporary contract at the University of Lausanne. She is living day-to-day in Switzerland, trying to juggle constraints imposed by employer contracts and her temporary Swiss permit. All the while, her beloved city and country are not far from her mind.
“Despite the war, Ukraine is doing a lot to keep researchers and scientists employed. Education in eastern and southern Ukraine is fully online. Ukrainian universities still want to keep us. They invite us to activities, ask us to supervise and continue research. They are trying to maintain a university education for youth,” she said. “I am the biggest patriot of my city, but the human loss has been colossal. We can rebuild buildings. It takes many years to build a new generation.”
de Rassenfosse’s says his research data confirms Iarmosh’s feelings about colossal loss for this and the next few generations.
“Generally, our study shows that Ukrainian scientists are getting more and more disconnected from the Ukrainian scientific community, and this is dangerous for the future of Ukraine and Ukrainian research,” said de Rassenfosse. “Policymakers must anticipate the renewal of the Ukrainian research system in order for scientists to return and train the next generation of Ukrainian scientists.”