WeST is a free of charge platform for matching prospective scientists from Ukraine, Russia and Belarus, sponsors who would like to extend the financial support to them in their relocation to the western academic institutions, and the universities or other research organisations willing to accommodate them.

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OUR MISSION AND VISION

WeST is a group of volunteers (no budget required) arranging for a platform, where prospective scientists can get support in their application process to western universities, including consultations and assistance in paper work and where they will be presented and introduced to potential sponsors and academia.

West aims to provide talented young scientists from Ukraine, Russia and Belarus with an opportunity to escape the war or dictatorship, and to build a professional career in democratic settings which correspond with their values and beliefs. This will also enrich UK academia, laboratories and industries with talented, ambitious and motivated scientists while depriving military Russia from the intellectual resource and prevent Russian government from implementing aggressive repressions.

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NATURE PUBLICATION

AND STATEMENT

WeST co-authored a Nature correspondence publication dated 14 June 2022, encouraging Western support for Russian scientists.

On February 24th, 2022, Russia started an undeclared war against Ukraine. While Ukrainian researchers are losing the means for work due to the atrocities of war, thousands of Russian and Belorussian researchers who stand against the war and totalitarian regimes are hostages of their governments.

Currently thousands of researchers who work in the European, UK and USA universities and industries have Russian/Ukrainian/Belorussian background including Nobel Prize winners (Abrikosov / Ginsbourg (2003); Geim / Novoselov (2010)). These three countries enriched the western world with hundreds of genius scientists, engineers, IT professionals. The intellectual potential of these nations cannot be overestimated.

The emigration rate in Russia and Belarus has been gradually rising since 2006. Around 5 MILLION people have left Russia during Vladimir Putin’s rule. Over the pandemic time the percentage of Russians intending to move out of the country reached its highest level in the last 10 years. A survey performed by an independent sociological research organization revealed that one in five Russians wants to emigrate. Another study found that most of the respondents (55%) left Russia when they were between the ages of 20 and 40. They were also very well-educated: 92% had a university degree and 14% had a PhD

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