WASHINGTON, May 20, 2022 — The war in Ukraine imperils and displaced millions of Ukrainians, including many physicists, astronomers, and other scientists, leading to the total disruption of their lives and their science.
In Physics Today, science writer Toni Feder describes the impact of war on Ukrainian and Russian scientists in the June issue cover article, “In Ukraine, science will need rebuilding postwar; in Russia, its isolation could endure.”
This insightful and nuanced article clearly shows Ukraine’s storied scientific facilities and institutions will need rebuilding after peace returns. On the other side of the border, by closing itself off from the rest of the world, Russia has isolated its scientists, potentially impeding scientific collaborations long after the war ends.
“I was looking, initially, at how the war affects science and scientists in relation to Russia, but you can’t leave Ukraine out. It is, of course, the real victim,” said Feder. “That’s why [the article] is really about both.”
The article discusses current efforts made by other countries to offer jobs and safe havens to Ukrainian scientists and, in some cases, Russian scientists. For now, there are far more of these posts available than applicants to fill them, as many Ukrainians cannot or do not want to leave their home country.
While speaking with scientists in Ukraine and their worldwide collaborators, Feder was struck by the difficult balance researchers face between showing condemnation of the Russian regime and maintaining open lines of communication. Many authors do not want Russian affiliations included on their publications, and some scientists believe any Russian scientist who benefits from funding, collaboration, or publishing must take a stand against the war.
“Throughout the Cold War — despite clashing governments — science, culture, and sports were the things that you could continue having a conversation about,” Feder said. “Right now, though, many people feel they need to put collaboration on hold, because they say, ‘that’s Cold War, this is hot war.’”
However, outspoken condemnation is risky for scientists still in Russia who may not support the regime but cannot leave.
“[This war will] really destroy a lot, in terms of the Russian-Western scientific collaboration, if it isn’t somehow picked up and put on a better path,” said Feder. “It’s another aspect of the war that isn’t the first thing you’re going to think of.”
“In Ukraine, science will need rebuilding postwar; in Russia, its isolation could endure” appears in the June 2022, Volume 75, Number 6 issue of Physics Today, the flagship publication of the American Institute of Physics.
Views expressed in Physics Today and on its website are those of the authors and not necessarily those of AIP or its member societies.
ABOUT PHYSICS TODAY
Physics Today, the flagship publication of the American Institute of Physics, is the most influential and closely followed physics magazine in the world. See https://physicstoday.scitation.org/journal/pto.
