The Zimin Foundation in partnership with the Boris Nemtsov Foundation for Freedom provide financial resources to fund the “Fedor Stepun Fellowship Program”. With this, we can support postdoctoral researchers affected by the war in Ukraine and beyond. This is the second enrollment for this program, the first one was launched in April 2022, almost immediately after the start of the war in Ukraine.

The program provides 8 postdoctoral fellowships for researchers from all scientific fields who were forced to leave their countries due to political persecution in regard to the ongoing war. The duration of each fellowship is 4 months. Each of the eight fellowships is endowed with 2,000 € per month, i.e., a total of 8,000 €. During this period, fellows are required to develop ideas and prepare grant proposals for research projects to be submitted to leading scientific institutions in Germany or/and other European countries.

Applications are available for all professors/PIs of the three universities of the University Alliance Ruhr, i.e., Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, and the University of Duisburg-Essen.

Here are few testimonials from former fellows:

“After my hasty departure from Russia, I was not at all sure that I would be able to continue my research work. In this situation, the Fyodor Stepun Program was a real salvation for me. It was thanks to it that I was able to regain some ground under my feet, catch my breath, and return to academia”.

“The Fyodor Stepun Fellowship Program allowed me to acclimatize initially to the space of European academia and to map out my future academic trajectory. The Stepun Program proved to be an important element linking my previous experience of academic work in Russia with my upcoming projects”.

Here you can get all the information about Fedor Stepun Fellowship Program.

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