Scholar Rescue Fund
The Institute of International Education Scholar Rescue Fund arranges, funds, and supports fellowships for threatened and displaced scholars at partnering higher education institutions worldwide, including inside their home regions. These fellowships permit professors, researchers and other senior academics to find temporary refuge at host universities and colleges anywhere in the world, enabling them to pursue their academic work. In some cases, conditions may improve, but if the scholar is unable to return home, the scholar may use the fellowship period to identify a longer-term opportunity.
History
The Institute of International Education has helped rescue threatened scholars since its inception in 1919, demonstrating a commitment to protecting academic freedom. In the 1930s, IIE was instrumental in founding the Emergency Committee in Aid of Displaced Foreign Scholars, led by Edward R. Murrow. The program assisted scholars who were barred from teaching, persecuted and threatened with imprisonment by the Nazis. Over 300 scholars were received aid, some of whom became Nobel Laureates and many whose work and ideas helped shape the post-war world.Other major activities undertaken throughout the Institute's history, before the formal establishment of IIE-SRF in 2002, include: The Russian Student Fund, Rescue of Scholars from Fascist Italy, Rescue of Scholars from the Spanish Civil War, Committee on Awards for Chinese Students, Emergency Program to Aid Hungarian University Students, The South African Education Program, Rescue of Burmese Refugees, and Emergency Higher Education Load Programs .
Scholar Rescue Fund launch
IIE-SRF was founded and endowed in 2002, when IIE's trustees committed to making scholar rescue a permanent part of its work. As of 2023, IIE-SRF has provided over 1,700 awards with the collaboration of over 480 institutions from 55 different countries. The IIE-SRF Fellowships have no geographic limits on awards, on the disciplines, or fields supported. Fellowships may be awarded to scholars from any country and/or institutions.Regional Initiatives
Afghanistan
In response to the disruptions to higher education caused by the 2021 Taliban offensive, IIE launched its Afghanistan Crisis Response that included IIE-SRF and other programs to assist impacted scholars and students. As of September 2023, IIE-SRF has made emergency awards to 56 scholars from Afghanistan.Iraq
In 2006, due to high security concerns in Iraq, IIE-SRF launched the Iraq Scholar Rescue Project. The Project helped Iraqi university professors and scientists from 2007-2014 to resume their teaching and research in safety. By the Project's completion in September 2014, over 280 Iraqi scholars had received fellowships to help them resume their teaching and research activities in safe countries.The Iraq Project continued through January 2023 through the Iraq Distance Learning Initiative, which included the Iraq Live Lecture Project and the IIE-SRF University Joint Courses Project. Both projects supported Iraqi scholars in the diaspora to fill curricular and expertise gaps at Iraqi universities, thus strengthening connections between these scholars and university students, professors, and institutions of higher education inside Iraq.