New initiative aims to bolster funding for scientists in war-torn Ukraine

WASHINGTON, D.C.— For astrophysicist David Spergel, teaching at a summer school about data science in August 2023 in Ukraine was a “surreal” experience. At times, utterly normal—smart students and collegial dinners in the charming cobblestoned city of Lviv. But punctuated by sirens and cellphone alerts warning of Russian missile attacks that compelled attendees to seek refuge in bomb shelters. Spergel, president of the Simons Foundation , started to think there had to be something more the West could do to aid his Ukrainian colleagues. Eight months later, that idea has blossomed into the Science and Innovation Fund for Ukraine, a new initiative that aims to not only throw a lifeline to scientists who have remained in Ukraine, but also make the science relevant to the country’s eventual postwar recovery. “We can help ensure that Ukrainian science and technology will provide a foundation for Ukraine’s growth and development for decades to come,” Marcia McNutt, president of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences (NAS) and former editor-in-chief of Science , said in a statement on the fund, to be formally launched today at an event at Ukraine House here. With $8 million in commitments so far, the fund is modest in size, but it comes at a critical moment for war-weary Ukrainian scientists. “It’s amazing. The timing could not be better,” says Olga Polotska, executive director of the National Research Foundation of Ukraine, t...
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