The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and the German Rectors' Conference (HRK) appeal to the Federal Government: a support programme for German universities to admit and support Ukrainian students and researchers must be launched now.  

"Three weeks after the start of the Russian war of aggression, the situation in Ukraine continues to deteriorate. As the fighting continues, the refugee numbers of up to seven million people predicted by the European Union are becoming increasingly likely. German universities therefore need immediate support to massively expand their existing commitment to the integration of Ukrainian students and researchers," said DAAD President Prof. Dr Joybrato Mukherjee.

"The universities and also we as the HRK are currently receiving urgent enquiries from Ukrainian students and academics on a daily basis. We want to do everything we can to ensure that they can continue to study and work in Germany," said HRK President Prof. Dr Peter-André Alt. "When it comes to the linguistic and subject-related preparation and integration of students, the universities can fall back on tried and tested structures, but they need appropriate financial support for this."

The DAAD had already called for a support programme for German universities at the beginning of March, as up to 100,000 Ukrainian students and researchers are expected to come to German universities. The proposed programme comprises five pillars that have already proven their worth in other conflicts:

• Supporting German higher education institutions in the linguistic and subject-related integration of refugee students and prospective students into higher education institutions,
• scholarships for Ukrainian students, doctoral candidates and academics who will be coming to Germany in the coming weeks and months, as well as the unbureaucratic extension of funding for those who are already in the country,
• supporting German higher education institutions in the development and provision of digital offerings for their Ukrainian partner institutions as long as they are able to maintain their operations;
• Leadership programmes for future leaders who can take on leadership roles in Ukraine after the situation stabilises at a later stage;
• supporting German universities in the further qualification of academically pre-qualified specialists with a view to the German labour market.

At the request of the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs of the Länder in the Federal Republic of Germany and supported by the Federal Ministry of Education, the DAAD will also expand its online services for German higher education institutions on Ukraine and for Ukrainian students and researchers into a National Contact Point Ukraine. The HRK supports its member universities and the DAAD in bundling and making visible the support services.