The Kavli Foundation has announced a new program in support of displaced scholars whose scientific research has been interrupted by civil unrest, geopolitical strife, climate change catastrophes, natural disasters, and other extreme circumstances.

The Kavli Scholars program will partner with the foundation’s Kavli Institutes and affiliated scholars and universities to provide bridge support for scholars seeking to continue their research in new environments. Scholars will be selected based on their need and promise for transitioning and continuing their work that aligns with the foundation’s areas of interest, including astrophysics, theoretical physics, nanoscience, and neuroscience.

The two inaugural Kavli Scholars are Abraham Amiri, a science communicator from Afghanistan who fled after coming under threat from the Taliban for his science outreach and will be pursuing a master’s degree in planetary science at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and Kateryna Vovk, an astrophysicist from Ukraine whose grant funding was canceled shortly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, who will be continuing her work at the University of Tokyo. Amiri is sponsored by UCLA astronomy professor David Jewitt, a 2012 Kavli Prize recipient. Vovk is sponsored by University of Tokyo professor John Silverman and Jia Liu, a professor at the university’s Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe.

“I really wanted to continue promoting science and communicating science with the public, and to pursue a master’s in astronomy,” said Amiri. “I didn’t know if it was possible.”

“This is an ongoing challenge that affects many scholars worldwide,” said Kavli Foundation president Cynthia Friend. “Scholars transitioning to a new work environment can have a life-changing impact, and fortunately we can help this talent continue their important research and their contributions to science globally.”

(Photo credit: Kavli Foundation)