We would like to express our solidarity with the Ukrainian people, including our fellow academics, who are confronted with the immediate consequences and severe violence. This war must end as soon as possible. Our thoughts are also with our many Russian colleagues who condemn this war and cannot carry out their teaching, research, and scholarship in freedom.

We express our concern because The Dutch Young Academy wants to support scholars who live in conflict and war zones and who are forced to flee their countries. We see it as our responsibility to help to ensure, where we can, that scientific progress and education are not impeded. Free research and scholarship and higher education are of great importance to an open democratic society, a society that is currently under threat.