In the year since Russia sharply escalated its nearly decade-long war with Ukraine, staging an all-out invasion of the country, philanthropic responses have been a valuable adjunct to military aid and other assistance coming from the U.S., the United Kingdom, Germany, Canada and other governments. According to Candid's ongoing tracking, as of this February, philanthropy's response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine has included almost 1,600 grants totaling more than $1.5 billion, with an additional $1.2 billion pledged.
Much of that support has gone toward basic humanitarian aid and infrastructure, which make up Ukraine’s most immediate and pressing needs. But at the same time, it's also valuable that the country, to the extent possible, maintains at least some of its everyday activities involving business, school, family life, recreation — and even advanced scientific research.
The Simons Foundation is backing up this notion. Drawing on the fortune of Renaissance Technologies founder Jim Simons and his wife Marilyn, the foundation is one of the largest in the U.S. devoted entirely to science and research. Recently, the foundation announced $1.2 million in funding for Ukrainian scientists and academics over the next year. It’ll go to 405 mathematicians, biologists, physicists and chemists who are still working in Ukraine. Some money is directly funding the scholars' monthly paychecks — $200 for Ph.D. researchers and $100 for Ph.D. students — while some will support their host institutions. According to Simons, it’s funding that's essential to maintaining the scientists' ability to live and work.
“There is a lot of activity supporting Ukrainian scientists who escaped the war and left the country, but not a lot of thought was given to the scientists who remained there,” said Gregory Gabadadze, associate director of the Simons Foundation’s mathematics and physical sciences division, in a news statement. Support for these researchers "is important for science itself, but also for the country and the people in this situation.”
Ukraine has long been known for the excellence of its scientists, engineers and mathematicians — they're an important part of the country's identity and culture. In 1925, Ukrainian Boris Grabovsky was a key figure in the invention of television. Kyiv-born Igor Sikorsky is considered the father of modern helicopter design. And just last year, Ukrainian mathematician Maryna Viazovska became only the second woman in history to win the Fields Medal, the most prestigious award for young mathematicians.
Simons Foundation President David Spergel, whom I profiled back in 2021 when he was named to lead the organization, conceived of this program to support Ukrainian researchers soon after the Russian invasion last year. The foundation reached out to Ukrainian research leaders in a call for applications, and Simons accepted all of the applications it received. The current batch of grants will run for 12 months, but the foundation says it will continue to support scientists in Ukraine for the duration of the war — and even after the war as the scientific community rebuilds.
Simons’ grants to support Ukraine’s scientists join a growing list of big-funder efforts to aid the embattled country. A few weeks ago, Inside Philanthropy's Liz Longley detailed the Howard G. Buffett Foundation's solid support for Ukraine: some $150 million in the last year, much of it for Ukraine’s all-important agricultural industry, but also for needs like rebuilding infrastructure, removing unexploded ordnance and landmines, and for medical needs such as prosthetic limbs for veterans and civilians. Other emergency and humanitarian support has come from the Open Society Foundations, the Ford Foundation, the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies and UJA-Federation New York, to name just a few.
Funders are also aiming to protect the country’s many architectural and artistic touchstones. Inside Philanthropy recently wrote about philanthropic efforts to protect Ukrainian national monuments and other cultural sites, including the Getty Foundation's partnership with ALIPH (the International Alliance for the Protection of Heritage in Conflict Areas) to develop a Ukrainian Action Plan to help the country protect its cultural heritage from the destruction of the war.
Many Ukrainian scientists were among the millions who fled the country during the last year. Public funders like the U.S. National Academy of Sciences provided support for many such scholars who fled to neighboring Poland; the European Federation of Academies of Sciences and Humanities also created a fund for displaced Ukrainian scientists. On the nonprofit side, for example, the Breakthrough Prize is providing $800,000 through the Australian Academy of Science to assist Ukrainian scientists.
Simons Foundation’s support for international scientists, as well as those under threat, goes back years — after all, much of scientific research crosses borders. Last year, Simons extended an existing partnership with the Institute of International Education, contributing $500,000 for its Scholar Rescue Fund. The global fund provides fellowships to scholars and scientific researchers facing political persecution or threats from international conflicts. And back in 2014, Simons’ Mathematics and Physical Sciences division boosted international grantmaking to computer scientists, mathematicians and scholars working in physical sciences.
The Simons Foundation’s grants for Ukraine's scientists may not be a huge amount of money compared to other grant programs or support for science research writ large, but as a brutal war drags on, they’re worth noting — and celebrating — nonetheless.