“It is important that we make progress in raising awareness and engagement, to which end the Swedish Section of Scholars at Risk is an important actor, arranging joint seminars and lobbying politicians and financiers,” she says.
SAR works globally to promote academic freedom, including by providing protection and temporary academic sanctuary at higher education institutions to researchers who are unable to work in their home countries.
Uppsala University has been a member of Scholars at Risk since 2014 and in 2019 the University welcomed its first researcher via SAR.
Tora Holmberg is looking forward to working to promote academic freedom both at Uppsala University and in collaboration with SAR Sweden.
“Uppsala University wishes to have a clear voice in ensuring responsible internationalisation. The objectives are to be a driving force behind the work of protecting researchers at risk, to have influence in global academia and to take responsibility for a collective international community. There is no shortage of researchers who are involved in SAR, so we have a good foundation for this work locally.”