Scholars at Risk
An international network for threatened scholars.
About Scholars at Risk
Scholars at Risk brings together over 650 universities and other organizations worldwide. In addition to providing academic sanctuaries for at-risk scholars, the network also engages in policy and advocacy work. Each year, SAR publishes the Free to Think report, offering an overview of the global state of academic freedom.
Together with the V-Dem Institute, the Global Public Policy Institute, and FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg, SAR has also developed the Academic Freedom Index, which tracks the current global status of academic freedom.
Visit www.scholarsatrisk.org for more information.
Lnu and SAR
Linnaeus University has been a member of Scholars at Risk since 2016 with the mission to promote academic freedom and protect scholars. Linnaeus University hosted their first SAR-scholar during 2019-2020.
The Lnu contact person for SAR is Lena Kulmala, International Relations.
SAR-Sweden
SAR-Sweden offers professional development, support, and exchange of experience for its member institutions. The section meets twice a year at termly section meetings, and maintains ongoing digital member dialogues on current topics.
The SAR-Sweden secretariat is currently hosted by the University of Gothenburg.
In 2019, a steering group was formed with the task of, in line with SAR Sweden’s programme statement, ensuring continuous and strategic work—both within the Swedish section and between the biannual meetings.
SAR Europe
Scholars at Risk Europe, hosted at Maynooth University, is the European office of the global Scholars at Risk network. The European office supports and coordinates the activities of Scholars at Risk national sections and partner networks across Europe to strengthen our collective voice at the European level and contribute to informed policymaking for the greater protection of scholars and increased respect for academic freedom worldwide.
SAR Europe is supported in its work by members of the European Coordinating Committee for Academic Freedom Advocacy. The Committee pushes for greater integration of academic freedom within Europe's higher education, research, and human rights systems, and for European states to take tangible action to promote and protect academic freedom nationally, regionally, and globally. SAR-Sweden's representative in the Committee during 2020-2022 was Daniel Silander, Assoc. Professor at the department of political science at Linnaeus University.
SAR Europe at Maynooth coordinates InSPIREurope, an 10-partner Europe-wide initiative to support researchers at risk. InSPIREurope is funded under the European Commission’s Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, and will forge a coordinated, cross-sectoral, Europe-wide alliance for researchers at risk. SAR-Sweden is a linked party through Gothenburg University.
Academic freedom globally
In 2020, the UN General Assembly received a report on academic freedom from David Keye, UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression.
Download the report from the UN website
EU Research Ministers adopted in October 2020 a declaration on the important role of governments in protecting the freedom of scientific research, and in protecting academic freedom in the Bologna Process and the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) as well as in the European Research Area (ERA).
Download the report “Bonn Declaration on Freedom of Scientific Research”
Online course on Academic Freedom
The e-learning course "Dangerous" Quesions, Why Academic Freedom Matters, has been developd toghether with Amnesty International.
The course is intended to inform and encourage discussion about what academic freedom is, how it relates to other human rights and core higher education values, and why it is important not only to scholars, but to everyone.
The course is found on the Amnesty website.