2014 Scholar Rescue Fund Summit

The Institute of International Education’s Scholar Rescue Fund (IIE-SRF) offers critical assistance to professors, senior researchers, and certain public intellectuals whose lives and work have been threatened during times of repression, crisis and conflict.  IIE-SRF fellowships support visiting appointments for these scholars to continue their work in safety at partnering academic institutions worldwide and to prepare for their next steps until safe return home is possible.  This work would not be possible without the international community of academic partners, human rights actors, humanitarian aid organizations, and world leaders who are committed to acting on behalf of these individuals. Yet many of these important entities operate without knowledge of the wider networks that could be leveraged to maximize the support available to scholars when they urgently need help.

All of us would benefit from a greater awareness of the serious concerns facing so many scholars and of the opportunities for holistic, more integrated responses to critical issues affecting entire academies around the world.

On Friday, October 24, 2014 the Institute of International Education (IIE) will convene an inaugural summit to celebrate the scholars we work with and explore the collaborative nexus of higher education, human rights, and philanthropic resources that are available to protect threatened scholars. Featuring partners from diverse sectors, the summit will address the challenges to offering immediate and long-term assistance to scholars suffering from censorship, harassment, violence and other grave human rights abuses that silence intellectual voices and stunt the essential elements of a more peaceful and educated world. 

Please visit the IIE-SRF Summit page to learn more and to register.

The summit will convene and call upon universities, human rights organizations, NGOs, philanthropic groups, and government agencies to consider ways in which this diverse community can bridge emergency response services and longer-term support programs to raise awareness of and respond to the critical needs of individual scholars and entire academies under threat. Panel discussions will give participants the opportunity to share best practices, expand their networks and explore spaces of cross-sector collaboration.

About IIE

The Institute of International Education is a world leader in the international exchange of people and ideas. An independent, not-for-profit organization founded in 1919, IIE has a network of 19 offices and affiliates worldwide and over 1,300 member institutions. IIE designs and implements programs of study and training for students, educators, young professionals and trainees from all sectors with funding from government agencies, foundations, and corporations. IIE also conducts policy research and program evaluations, and provides advising and counseling on international education and opportunities abroad.

About IIE-SRF

The Institute of International Education’s Scholar Rescue Fund® (IIE-SRF) formalizes an unwavering commitment that IIE has demonstrated for over 90 years to preserve the lives, voices, and ideas of scholars around the globe.  IIE-SRF fellowships support visiting appointments for threatened scholars to continue their work in safety at partnering academic institutions worldwide. Since IIE-SRF’s founding in 2002, the program has provided academic fellowships to scholars from 50 countries, placing them at over 300 host partner institutions in 40 countries. At the heart of IIE-SRF is the idea that each scholar we help who continues his or her work in safety is a beacon of hope in our world.