Despair and hope for Ukrainian science
This personal perspective was written in the immediate aftermath of the Russian invasion of Ukraine by Volodymyr Dudko (pictured) – a Ukrainian PhD student at the University of Bayreuth, Germany, who is also a student contributor to Physics World.
I woke up in Germany at 5.00 a.m. CET on Thursday 24 February 2022, two hours after the first bombs had landed in my home town Kyiv. The day before, in a group meeting at the University of Bayreuth, my PhD supervisor asked my wife (also a PhD student) and me if we were scared about the situation in Ukraine. My wife said that she was worried about her parents and possible war. I was calm; I believed no-one could be so insane as to start a war in Europe in the 21st century.
Early Thursday morning my wife was sleeping and I decided not to wake her up; she deserved to have a few more hours of peace. I immediately messaged both our parents, but no-one answered. We spent the entire morning writing invitation letters so our parents could come to Germany. I also wrote to my PhD supervisor to get some documents confirming our status to help our parents cross borders. He responded quickly and said that we should stay at home and do everything possible to help our families.
The first day after the conflict began was spent in despair. We were scared of war and knew we could not do anything being so far from Ukraine. The next day I wrote to my former undergraduate adviser. He was in Ukraine with his family in the centre of Kyiv. Life was far from normal: my adviser’s family slept in the corridor of their building to be as far from the windows as possible. Nevertheless, he was optimistic. I told him I could help him find a host at my German university. He told me that he would do it only if Russia was to occupy Ukraine, otherwise he would stay.
On Sunday 27 February, the third day after war began, our despair had been replaced by anger. We were angry about the war; angry about the fact that we cannot do anything except donate to the Ukrainian cause; angry about the bomb attacks; and angry at Russia’s president. At my university, students started collecting warm clothes and medicine for people in Ukraine. On social media, I started seeing research groups worldwide encouraging Ukrainian students and scientists to apply for internships and visits.
What is happening in Ukraine is a tragedy, but people all over the world are helping and the scientific community is no exception. Science should not have borders and it is wonderful that more and more science is being done in collaborations. I believe that Ukrainian science will rise in the future, as a part of the European scientific family and the bonds between scientists will grow stronger.
Volodymyr Dudko