War in Ukraine

After the pandemic, the war. An event that affects us firstly as human beings, then as Europeans but also as members of the scientific and information world.

From the start of the conflict, the entire scientific network of the National Research Council was mobilised to give support and welcome students, researchers and lecturers but also to offer a contribution to sociopolitical analysis and reaffirm the message that science is the bearer of peace, friendship and collaboration.

Cnr approved the launch of 66 grants for Ukrainian graduates, professors and researchers in conditions of serious difficulty due to the conflict. The preliminary phase is now closed. The calls for application will be issued by the Research Institutes and available, together with all the details, at the following link https://www.urp.cnr.it/pagina.php?id=6. 

Videos:

• The story of Hanna, headmaster at Mariupol (video Cnr web TV 09/05/22). Broadcasted on regional TV news of Basilicata the story of Hanna Tryfonova, headmaster of the Faculty of Foreign Languages at University of Mariupol and already director of the Italian Studies Department. She is hosted in Potenza, where she arrived with her family, thanks to the hospitality of the association INSIEME. She is in contact with Cnr researchers, who are supporting her in finding professional opportunities in Italy (see all).

 

News and Press Releases:

• “ERA4Ukraine – EURAXESS” a one-stop-shop for information and support services to Ukraine-based researchers (News 07/04/2022): Among the initiatives of European Union, a web site to unknowledge Ukrainian researchers about existing and in progress actions at European and national level. The web site is hosted on the existing ‘EURAXESS Researchers in motion platform’, joined by Cnr as Italian Contact Point (read all).
• Ukraine Emergency: 66 scholarships from the CNR (Press release 22/03/2022): The Board of Directors of the CNR has approved the allocation of 66 scholarships to be announced in favour of students, researchers and teachers of Ukrainian nationality. A considerable effort that stands as a coherent and decisive response to the effects of the most serious acts of warfare currently underway in the foreign country (read all - italian only). The announcements of the allocations made available by the CNR’s scientific network shall be published on this page, along with all the details for applications. This measure is aimed at students, researchers and teachers of Ukrainian nationality who are currently in a condition of serious difficulty due to the conflict still underway in Ukraine.

 

Speeches by the President:

• Maria Chiara Carrozza visits the French Embassy (speech by the Cnr President 04/05/22).: "The conflict in Ukraine might undermine the international scientific cooperation. Research and scientific community do not know boundaries and they must be an instrument of peace building, through the sharing of projects results" declared the president of Cnr, Carrozza during the meeting at the French Embassy (link)
• “War, peace, science” (Cnr Webtv Video, March 2022): On Rai’s Futuro 24 programme, CNR’s President reaffirmed that science stands for peace. “There is a history of collaboration in certain scientific sectors that has continued for years which has stopped, perhaps formally with the official authorities, but researchers will always find a home at the CNR, especially if they advance the idea of peace and they believe in science and scientific diplomacy” (link to the video)
• United for peace (Cnr Webtv Video, March 2022): A video overview of images that show how the CNR network marked the 8^th of March with a minute of silence to express solidarity with the Ukrainian people and all peoples that are currently victims of war and injustice (link to the video)
• “The world of research for Ukraine” (Cnr Webtv Video, March 2022): Scientific diplomacy is a fundamental element for peace: on the UnoMattina programme, CNR’s President, Maria Chiara Carrozza, explained that the painful decision to suspend the missions and the renewal of the agreements with Russia must not in any way further isolate Russian researchers" (link to the video)
• Cnr’s President joins the appeal for peace in Ukraine (28/02/2022): On the occasion of the celebrations in Paris of 15 years of the European Research Council (ERC), the President of the National Research Council, Maria Chiara Carrozza, recalled that science is a fundamental vehicle of peace and collaboration. The Council is suspending agreements and missions with Russia and is acting to offer help and support to Ukrainian researchers (link to the video)

 

From the web magazine Almanacco della Scienza Cnr:

• Only one planet, only one destiny (16/03/2022): What is happening in Ukraine brings the risk of devastating consequences for our economy, for our development, for the Recovery Plan that Europe set itself after the pandemic, for the ecological transition. Without sensational and polarised communication, but with lucid reasoning. In order to reflect and understand how complex the situation is and how only the return to reason and responsibility by all can allow us to hope (read all - italian only) 

• The white gold of Ukraine (16/03/2022): The greatest potential for lithium minerals of the European region probably lies in the very ancient rocks that form the central part of this “middle land” squeezed between Europe and Russia which, despite the predictable geopolitical and environmental risks, has decided to study and survey its subsoil, in order to fully take part in the energy transition challenge. The topic is raised by Andrea Dini of the CNR’s Institute of Geosciences and Georesources, who recalls his collaboration with Ukrainian researchers (read all - italian only)

• Has the green transition been put on hold? (16/03/2022): The conflict in Ukraine and the consequent gas crisis are forcing Europe to immediately review energy transition projects, which envisage gradual decarbonisation in favour of renewable sources. Giampaolo Vitali, the research director of the CNR’s Institute of research into sustainable economic growth, speaks of the advantages, costs and difficulties in implementing this model (read all - italian only)

• A step to nowhere (02/03/2022): After the pandemic, the war. The impression is that the clock has suddenly been wound back at least 50 years. We had been indirect witnesses to the dynamics of those times, through the stories of previous generations, but they have now become dramatically current. In this tragic scenario, it was inevitable that the Science Almanac would be dedicated to Ukraine and the conflict (read all - italian only)
• Moscow versus Kyiv, tension from ancient roots (02/03/2022): Divided between Russia and Europe, Ukraine had for years been on the difficult road towards the EU. However, the EU did not respond adequately in order to avoid a crisis of which the portents were very clear. Gianfranco Tamburelli of the CNR’s Institute of International Legal Studies deals with the question that has everyone holding their breath (read all - italian only)

• Ukraine: cultural heritage at risk (02/03/2022): The hostilities have also caused the destruction of monuments, archaeological sites and works of art, accidental and intentional targets of military aggression. Ukraine has an immeasurable cultural heritage with as many as eight UNESCO World Heritage Sites and 17 candidates for this prestigious recognition. From the Napoleonic era to the World Wars, outstanding artists, art lovers enlisted in the army, scholars and superintendents, such as Pasquale Rotondi and Palma Bucarelli, helped hide or recover our heritage. They include Antonia Canova, who died two hundred years ago. He is discussed by Sandra Fiore, art historian of the CNR's press office (read all - italian only)

• Children, the first victims (02/03/2022): Antonella Guidi of the National Research Council’s European and International Relations Unit had an intense humanitarian experience when the first crisis had just begun between Russia and Ukraine, where she went on International Civil Service in 2008. This is her story (read all - italian only)

• Chemical weapons? The danger is terrorism (02/03/2022): What are chemical weapons? Are they still a threat in a war scenario? Matteo Guidotti, researcher of the “Giulio Natta” Institute of Chemical Sciences and Technologies of the Milan CNR and a member of the Scientific Consultative Council of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in the Hague, brings clarity to the issue (read all - italian only)

• "The military push to technology" (02/03/2022): The know-how on nuclear reactions acquired for military reasons was exploited for the production of energy for civilian use, the information for constructing the Boeing 707 was taken from the fighters designed to bring down enemy aircraft, the creation of the Internet was linked to the Cold War between the USA and the Soviet Union. These are only a few examples of scientific and technological innovations perfected during conflicts and then converted for peaceful use, in favour of progress (read all - italian only)

 

Press review selection:

• Ukraine: Di Giorgi (Pd), CNR scholarships are an important signal (AdnKronos 31/03/2022): “Applause for the National Research Council for allocating 66 scholarships for Ukrainian students, researchers and teachers. An important signal of solidarity and unity from the Italian scientific world in response to the aggression against a sovereign State and an attack on human rights and the principle of freedom, on which research is founded," said Rosa Di Giorgi, Democratic Party group leader on the Chamber of Deputies' Culture Commission (read all - italian only)