Most survey respondents say their financial situation has deteriorated since Russia’s invasion
Many Ukrainian researchers are suffering personal financial hardship as a result of the Russian invasion of their country, a survey has reported.
From 1 April to 2 May, the survey polled almost 2,200 Ukrainian researchers on their personal and research needs following the February invasion. It was a project of UAScience.Reload, a group supporting Ukrainian scholars.
Although 81.1 per cent of respondents said they continued to receive a salary from an institution where they worked, 83.8 per cent said their financial situation had deteriorated since the war began, putting financial needs among the three most common personal needs reported.
The other most common personal needs reported were building social contacts and getting better access to the internet.
Research needs
Regarding research, 72.9 per cent of respondents said it was not possible to engage in research activities in the same way as before the war began. Reasons included fears for safety, inability to access a workplace and internet interruptions.
Access to scientific literature or data and communication with colleagues were among other top research needs. Mobility programmes for scientists were also desired.
Some 85.3 per cent of respondents had not moved abroad. Lutsenko Anastasiia, a visiting researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition in Germany who coordinated the survey, told Research Professional News that the main contributing factor to the lack of movement was a government ban on males aged 18 to 60 leaving the country.
“There are more female scientists and researchers out of Ukraine at the moment,” she said.