Purdue to welcome up to 20 war-displaced Ukrainian scholars

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) — Purdue University plans to welcome to its campus up to 20 Ukrainian scholars who have been displaced by Russia's invasion of their country.

The university announced Friday that its Ukraine Scholars Initiative would accept Ukrainian scholars “directly impacted by the war" which began Feb. 24 with Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Purdue said the effort would offer up to 20 visiting scholars and their spouse or children from Ukraine an “opportunity to resume their academic pursuits at Purdue."

Purdue President Mitch Daniels said the program planned to last at least one calendar year would be “one small contribution to help the Ukrainian people in this moment of peril.”

“Our hope is that we can offer refuge to these scholars and a chance to continue pursuing their work, and then see them return to a safe and free Ukraine," he said in a news release.

Those eligible are scholars with faculty positions at Ukrainian universities who are engaged in academic research, and scholars enrolled in Ukrainian doctoral programs who are at the dissertation research stage of their degree program.

Each visiting scholar would be assigned a tenure-track faculty sponsor within their academic area who would serve as a mentor and advisor. Visiting scholars will hold J-1 visa status, but they would not be eligible to enroll in any degree-granting program, the school said.