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Universität Bonn

Research - Teaching - Excellence

The Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences at the University of Bonn offers researchers and students some unique opportunities in terms of education, academic and scientific diversity, and global networking. Whether it is performed in a laboratory, out in the field, at a computer or in front of a whiteboard, the work done at the faculty is interdisciplinary, forward-looking and extremely highly regarded on the international stage.

The Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences is the only one at the University of Bonn to be divided into specialized departments called Fachgruppen (Mathematics, Computer Science, Physics/Astronomy, Chemistry, Earth Sciences, Biology, Pharmacy, Molecular Biomedicine). The institutes based in these specialized departments boast outstanding track records in research.

The degree programs offered by the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences cover the whole range of disciplines encountered in the natural sciences.

Academic and scientific work at the highest level: the research we are doing in the faculty

Using resources expediently: find out more about our core facilities

Your future, any number of possibilities: the degree programs we offer at the faculty  

Key Semester Dates

Summer term 2024 (1 april - 30 september 2024).

Lecture Period 8 April – 19 July 2024 (Pentecost break 21-24 May)

Dies Academicus 15 May 2024

Winter Term 2024/2025 (1 October 2024 - 31 March 2025)

Lecture Period 7 October 2024 - 31 January 2025

Universität Bonn

Global Math Exchange Program

The Global Math Exchange Program supports extended research stays of our doctoral students at excellent mathematical departments and institutions around the world.

Acquiring international research experience, discussing one's own work with worlds' leading experts outside of one's own graduate program and developing one's own international collaborations are all important elements of early career mathematical education.This is why we encourage extended research stays abroad for our doctoral students!

The Global Math Exchange Program is designed to support research visits between 4 weeks and 4 months of length. Doctoral students are encouraged to select a host and an institution that is the best environment for their own research and study. BIGS provides funding in the form of travel and living expenses as well as individual support in arranging the research stay.

Application

To submit an application fill out the application form, and attach a supporting statement by your supervisor and a hosting agreement.

Global Math Exchange FAQs

All BIGS Mathematics doctoral students in their first three years of their doctoral studies are eligible to apply.

BIGS can provide funding for research stays of 4 weeks to 4 months at a mathematics department or mathematical institution world-wide, as long as the research stay benefits the research and professional development of the applicant.

You can receive funding for:

• travel costs to and from the host institution (return economy class flight or second class train)
• accommodation and other admissible travel expenses up to a specific amount depending on the length of your stay and the location of your host institution

The maximum travel award is determined based on the monthly rates for funding of research stay abroad from the DFG Walter-Benjamin-Program (minus the "basic allowance"), which can be found online at: xxx

Please, note that the Global Math Exchange Program is a special program that is designed to enable as many of our doctoral students as possible to spend a research stay abroad. As such, applicants in the Global Exchange Program agree to apply for support based on these funding rules. In general, applicants in the Global Math Exchange Program will either be employed at the University of Bonn - and continue to receive their salary - or continue to receive a stipend.

To apply you need to discuss your plans with your supervisor in Bonn, secure a commitment from a mentor at your desired host institution to work with you and provide you with the necessary infrastructure. Applications are possible online here.

Decisions in the Global Math Exchange Program are made by the BIGS-Director in consulatation with the Global Math Exchange Program Coordinator based on how well the proposed research stay benefits the research and professional development of the applicant, information about prior funded business travel and research visits and the feasibility of the proposed plans.  It is also important that you are in good standing with respect to all BIGS Math requirements (have a supervisor and a mentor, have submitted your annual report etc.).

Our goal is to fund as many good applications as possible. Decisions will be communicated usually within 2-3 weeks.

We are here to help you! You should discuss your plans with your supervisor who can help you identify an institution and a host that is best for your academic work. For general and organizational questions about how to go about planning a research stay abroad, for specific questions about the application process, and for support making your stay happen, the Program Coordinator is happy to meet with you and answer your questions.

If you travel within the Global Math Exchange Program, you usually remain employed at the University of Bonn and continue receiving your salary. It is important though, that upon receiving a positive GME funding decision, you apply for the relevant permission to travel with the university administration. All relevant forms can be found in the download section and will also be made available to you when you receive a positive funding decision.

If you are a parent of a child under the age of 12, and you need to take your child with you on your research stay, you are eligible for additional funding. Please, contact the GME Program Coordinator to discuss your options.

The relevant state, university regulations and BIGS funding guidelines determine which travel expenses are re-imburseable and which are not. The following is a - non-complete - list of travel expenses that are re-imburseable within the financial limit set by your individual GME travel award:

• economy flights to and from your hosting institution
• 2nd class (or equivalent) train tickets to and from your host institution
• local public transportation (2nd class or equivalent)
• visa / ESTA fees
• costs for short term rentals or other accommodation (up to a specified amount/day based on location)
• participation fees for academic events (conferences, meetings, workshops)
• daily allowance (up to a specified amount/day based on location)
• required vaccinations

The following things are not re-imburseable : travel health insurance, trip cancellation insurance, travel supplies, seat reservation/booking fees, taxi fares (unless absolutely necessary).

If in doubt ask the Reisekostenstelle of the University of Bonn.

Dr. Magdalena Balcerak Jackson

[email protected]

+49 228 73-62213

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International Max Planck Research School on Moduli Spaces

The International Max Planck Research School on Moduli Spaces (IMPRS) is the graduate program of the Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in Bonn (MPIM) jointly offered with the University of Bonn. It is part of the Bonn International Graduate School in Mathematics (BIGS-Mathematics). The IMPRS is sponsored by the Max Planck Society .

The academic training program of the IMPRS Moduli Spaces consists of courses, mini-courses, seminars and special activities, complementing the Ph.D. program of the University of Bonn.

PhD positions are available in the direction of moduli spaces and related fields for candidates with excellent Master or Bachelor degrees in the areas of research advised by one of the MPIM directors:

•  Arithmetic Geometry, Geometric Langlands Theory ( Gaitsgory , Scholze )
•  Topology ( Teichner )

Further research directions are available with other IMPRS board members and with other faculty at MPIM, such as Number Theory ( Blomer , Harder , Moree ), Arithmetic Geometry ( Faltings ), Modular Forms ( Zagier ), Teichmueller Theory ( Hamenstaedt ), Complex Algebraic Geometry ( Huybrechts ), Symplectic Geometry ( Bottman ), Global Analysis ( Mueller ), Topology ( Barthel , Ozornova , Ray , Schwede ), Geometric Topology ( Avramidi , Stadler ), Representation Theory ( Stroppel ) and Mathematical Physics ( Klemm , Blohmann ).

In addition, faculty members at the University of Bonn can also serve as advisors.

The Ph.D. should be finished within 3-4 years. The program is in English, dissertation and dissertation defense are in English too if desired. In exceptional cases, continuous supervision or graduating from the student's home university is possible.

Application

Students from all countries can apply, please follow the Application Instructions .

Requirements: German Diploma, Master of Science or equivalent. Depending on academic qualification, admission is for a qualifying year or directly for the Ph.D. work. Proof of proficiency in English ( TOEFL -test or equivalent qualification).

Application Deadline

• November 30 for the summer term
• April 15 ( new ) for the winter term.  

IMPRS Coordinator

Dr. Christian Kaiser room no. B 26 kaiser[at]mpim-bonn[dot]mpg[dot]de

Contact address for further communication

imprs[at]mpim-bonn[dot]mpg[dot]de

Mail Address

Max-Planck-Institute for Mathematics IMPRS-ModuliSpaces P.O. Box 7280 53072 Bonn Germany

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Application for the IMPRS Moduli Spaces

• Job openings

Since 1st of December 2011 the IMPRS shares an online application website with its partner Bonn International Graduate School Mathematics: http://www.bigs-math.uni-bonn.de/application/online-application/

In addition to CV, statement of purpose, degrees and academic records, proficiency in English and 2 letters of recommendation, which you should submit at the online application website, we ask you for a copy of your Bachelor's or Master's thesis if available (electronic version prefered). Send this to:

imprs$@$mpim-bonn$.$mpg$.$de

Max-Planck-Institute for Mathematics IMPRS-ModuliSpaces P.O. Box 7280 D-53072 Bonn Germany

Important Notes

• Visa : Students from most countries outside the European Union will have to apply for a visa to study in Germany. For details, ask the nearst German Embassy or Consulate, advisably before you send the application. Usually you must submit a letter from us stating that you are accepted, and a proof of financial support (e.g. award of IMPRS scholarship).
• The deadline for the summer term is November 30. The deadline for the winter term is April 15 ( new ). Applications will be considered by a Committee. Expect an answer within four weeks after the deadline.

IMPRS Working Areas

The topics studied in the IMPRS Moduli Spaces include:

• Shimura Varieties, Locally Symmetric Spaces
• Moduli Spaces of Principal Bundles on Curves
• The Moduli Space of Riemann Surfaces

Combinatorics of Moduli Spaces of Curves; Homological Aspects; Teichmüller Theory and Deformations of Hyperbolic 3-Manifolds

• Modular Forms
• Bounded Geometry

Gromov Precompactness Theorem; Quasi-isometric Rigidity; Spaces of Nonpositive Curvature; Spaces of Maps; Isospectral Manifolds

• Semisimple Frobenius Manifolds and Quantum Cohomology
• Non-commutative Geometry and Moduli Spaces
• Moduli Spaces in Floer Theory
• Strings and Conformal Field Theory

More detailed information is coming soon.

The Theme "Moduli Spaces"

Already Riemann was able to count the "number of free parameters" defining a Riemann surface of fixed genus. In the formally precise terminology of modern algebraic geometry, he was counting the dimension of the moduli space of Riemann surfaces. Traditionally, one studies these spaces via deformation theory (degenerations and compactifications - this often involves interesting combinatorics) or by uniformization theory (Teichmüller space).

Very surprisingly, these and other more complicated moduli spaces (e.g., of vector bundles, of stable maps, etc.) were discovered in recent years to play an important role in mathematical physics, especially in the theory of quantum strings, which strives to the unification of quantum field theory and the theory of gravity.

Currently, moduli spaces are studied from three perspectives, which we will now describe in more detail.

Initially, moduli spaces were introduced and investigated in order to understand better the objects they parametrize. It turned out that moduli spaces can be used as important tools in proofs of classical results. Often it requires a deep insight to see how a moduli space can be employed to obtain a result that only deals with individual objects. The 1983 proof of the Mordell and Shafarevich conjectures by G. Faltings is a famous example; here the moduli space of abelian varieties plays a decisive role. As it was thus realized that moduli spaces are significant mathematical objects, mathematicians started to study them in their own right. Their intrinsic beauty also contributed to the flourishing of this subject.

Another application of moduli spaces is to consider them as a tool to construct interesting varieties. There are various arithmetic conjectures about varieties that are inaccessible in general. By making use of the fact that a moduli space is parametrizing certain structures it becomes possible to prove some of these conjectures for these special varieties. For instance we can attach an $L$-function to an algebraic variety over $\mathbb Q$ and certain conjectures about its analytic properties can be stated, but we can prove them only in very few cases, and these cases are usually modular varieties. The most spectacular example is the theorem of Wiles that an elliptic curve over $\mathbb Q$ in some sense occurs in a suitable modular curve. These modular curves are the simplest examples of Shimura varieties.

In global Riemannian geometry one considers spaces of isometry classes of complete Riemannian manifolds, defined by specific bounds on the geometry. The questions of interest here include the triviality of such spaces (rigidity) and the structure of their boundaries (e.g., Gromov-Hausdorff convergence), among others. One also studies minimal submanifold immersions or isospectral metrics by looking at their moduli spaces.

The second perspective is to view moduli spaces as a way of generating new geometries. As an example from differential geometry, we mention the Weil-Petersson metric which is a natural Kähler metric on moduli spaces of Calabi-Yau manifolds. In the case of three-dimensional Calabi-Yau manifolds this metric satisfies additional properties which lead to the notion of a special Kähler metric. This geometry was discovered first by physicists in an entirely different context. There it arose as a constraint of extended supersymmetry in four-dimensional supergravity Yang-Mills theories. The link between these two appearances of special Kähler geometry is provided by string theory. The low-energy limit of a ten-dimensional superstring theory compactified down to four dimensions with a Calabi-Yau threefold is identical to the supergravity Yang-Mills theory.

Another example is furnished by the so-called Frobenius manifolds. Physicists discovered that moduli spaces of topological and conformal field theories come up together with a new structure: their tangent vectors can be multiplied as elements of an algebra. After a suitable axiomatization, it was realized that several other constructions lead to the same structure. In particular it emerges on the unfolding spaces of isolated singularities (Kyoji Saito et al.), and the cohomology spaces of certain differential graded algebras (S. Barannikov and M. Kontsevich).

The most surprising and much studied phenomenon, again predicted by physicists, is the famous mirror symmetry. It is expressed in the existence of its morphisms between Frobenius manifolds given by totally different constructions, for example, quantum cohomology (genus zero Gromov-Witten invariants) and extended moduli spaces of Calabi-Yau manifolds.

Mirror symmetry is closely connected with studying degenerations which lie at the boundary of a moduli space. It was recognized recently that moduli spaces may have "invisible" boundary strata which parametrize non-commutative varieties in the sense of Alain Connes. This is a very promising new direction of research.

Finally, the third perspective originates from a fundamental idea about constructing invariants of geometric spaces. The idea is to assign to a geometric space a moduli space and to prove that standard invariants of the moduli space are actually invariants of the geometric space.

As an example of this we mention Donaldson and Seiberg-Witten invariants of 4-manifolds. The gauge-theoretic moduli spaces arising in these theories are spaces of solutions of certain partial differential equations defined in terms of geometric objects such as connections and spinors, modulo a large group of gauge symmetries. These moduli spaces provide invariants of smooth 4-manifolds, and by dimensional reduction and gluing formulae, invariants of 3-manifolds in the form of Floer homology theories. An intensive study of gauge theoretic moduli spaces was initiated in the early eighties, with Donaldson's famous result on obstructions to the existence of smooth structures on certain classes of 4-manifolds. More recent results have uncovered deep connections between moduli spaces of Donaldson and Seiberg-Witten invariants of 4-manifolds, and between Seiberg-Witten and Gromov-Witten invariants of symplectic 4-manifolds.

In the study of all kinds of moduli spaces from all of these perspectives, explicit formulas are often given by identities involving modular functions (i.e., functions on moduli spaces). The appearance of modular forms is ubiquitous in the theory of $L$-functions, but very surprisingly, they are also involved in many identities arising from mirror symmetry, vertex algebras and statistical mechanics.

Financial and other support for IMPRS students

A few doctoral positions are available. Ph.D. students receive a Ph.D. support contract of the Max Planck Society for three years, based on the German TVöD 13 scale (75%). Extension to a 4th year is possible.

The Max Planck Institute will assist in finding housing (housing[at]mpim-bonn[dot]mpg[dot]de). All information about Visa/Residence permit Ph.D. students will obtain by the administration (personnel[at]mpim-bonn[dot]mpg[dot]de).

For a sketch of the approximate living expenses, have a look at some information provided by BIGS .

The IMPRS provides support for students to visit specialists in their fields at German or other European institutions with whom the IMPRS is connected. There is also a limited budget for participation in conferences or workshops at these partner institutions, or for short invitations of specialists from these institutions to Bonn.

IMPRS Courses

University of Bonn

• Number Theory
• Algebraic Groups
• Algebraic and Arithmetic Geometry
• Differential Geometry
• Algebraic Topology
• Complex Analysis
• Global Analysis and
• Mathematical Physics

For a complete list see the "Vorlesungsverzeichnis" of Bonn University.

Max Planck Institute for Mathematics

• Oberseminar Topology
• AG Homotopy Theory (jointly with the Universities Wuppertal, Düsseldorf and Bochum)
• AG Complex Analysis (jointly with Wuppertal University)
• Number Theory Seminar
• Algebraic and Complex Geometry Seminar
• Seminar on Algebra, Geometry and Physics
• Gauge Theory Seminar

as well as further activities and seminars on timely topics.

For a complete list have a look at MPIM's Web-Site

The IMPRS will install two new seminars specifically for the graduate students:

• a reading course, where the students work with some advisor through material necessary for, or supplementary to, their research work;
• a seminar where the students present their own work and/or discuss ideas with the other graduate students (who might be working in other fields).

For those students who first do their qualifying year, a crash course will be organized.

The IMPRS and BIGS will also organize a series of lectures by invited speakers on recent research in the fields of the graduate students.

Each graduate student is expected to participate in the weekly "Mathematical Colloquium", where invited speakers give talks about their latest work.

Apart from the scientific program, the IMPRS students can participate in the language courses and the social program the BIGS will offer.

IMPRS Board Members

Prof. Dr. W. Ballmann (U. Bonn and MPIM) :

- Differential Geometry

Prof. Dr. C.-F. Bödigheimer (U. Bonn) :

Prof. Dr. V. Blomer (U. Bonn) :

- Number Theory

Prof. Dr. G. Faltings (MPIM) :

- Arithmetic Algebraic Geometry

Prof. Dr. D. Gaitsgory (MPIM) :

- Geometric Langlands Theory

Prof. Dr. U. Hamenstädt (U. Bonn) :

- Differential Geometry, Teichmüller Theory

Prof. Dr. G. Harder (U. Bonn and MPIM) :

Prof. Dr. D. Huybrechts (U. Bonn) :

- Complex Geometry

Prof. Dr. A. Klemm (U. Bonn):

- Mathematical Physics: String Theory, Algebraic Geometry

Prof. Dr. Werner Müller (U. Bonn) :

- Global Analysis, Locally Symmetric Spaces

Dr. A. Ray (MPIM) :

Prof. Dr. P. Scholze (U. Bonn and MPIM) :

Prof. Dr. S. Schwede (U. Bonn) :

Prof. Dr. Catharina Stroppel (U. Bonn) :

- Representation Theory, Topology, Category Theory

Prof. Dr. P. Teichner (UC Berkeley and MPIM) :

Prof. Dr. D. Zagier (MPIM and Collège de France) :

- Modular Forms, Number Theory

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Events today

• 09:00 - 17:00   Grigori Avramidi, Dawid Kielak, Roman Sauer: Conference on "Homology Growth in Topology and Group Theory", May 13 - 17, 2024
• 09:00 - 10:00   N.N.: Registration
• 10:00 - 11:00   MPIM Lecture Hall Ian Leary: Groups of type FP via graphical small cancellation II: relators with symmetry
• 10:30 - 11:30   MPIM Seminar Room N.N.: Organizational meeting
• 11:00 - 11:30   MPIM Tea Room N.N.: Tea and coffee break
• 11:30 - 12:30   MPIM Lecture Hall Kasia Jankiewicz: Algebraic fibering and incoherence of Coxeter groups
• 12:30 - 14:00   N.N.: Lunch break
• 14:00 - 15:00   MPIM Lecture Hall Giovanni Italiano: Fibring, Algebraic Fibring, and Hyperbolic Manifolds
• 15:00 - 16:00   MPIM Lecture Hall Holger Kammeyer: Galois cohomology and the sign of the Euler characteristic
• 16:00 - 16:30   MPIM Tea Room N.N.: Tea and coffee break
• 16:30 - 18:00   MPIM Lecture Hall Jonas Nehme: Soergel bimodules and categorification of the Hecke algebra [IMPRS seminar]

Mathematical Institute of the University of Bonn

Bonn mathematics performs excellently again in QS ranking

Stefan Schwede is invited speaker at the ECM 2024 in Sevilla

Jessica Fintzen wins Cole Prize

Regula Krapf receives university teaching award

Catharina Stroppel joined the North Rhine-Westphalia Academy for Sciences and Arts

Matthias Kreck elected corresponding member of the Göttingen Academy of Sciences and Humanities in Lower Saxony

M. Rapoport receives the Alexanderson Award of the AIM (joint with Jan Bruinier, Benjamin Howard, Stephen S. Kudla, and Tonghai Yang)

Daniel Huybrechts receives the Compositio Prize for the periode 2017-2019

Catharina Stroppel receives Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize 2023

Grants for Mathematics students from Ukraine

Jessica Fintzen is awarded a Whitehead Prize of the London Mathematical Society

Peter Scholze elected as Foreign Member of the Royal Society

Mathematics

In the master's degree program Mathematics students can acquire comprehensive scientific knowledge in a main field of mathematics. They can choose from the following areas: “Algebra, Number Theory and Logic,“ “Mathematical Analysis and Differential Equations,“ “Discrete Mathematics,“ “Geometry and Topology,“ “Numerical Analysis and Scientific Computing” and “Probability Theory and Stochastic Analysis.“

In addition to introductory lecture modules, students of this degree program also have the possibility to directly attend advanced master’s level lectures in other mathematical ares. Mathematics topics are furthermore presented in special graduate seminars. Students can gather practical experience e.g. from practical tutoring, internships in the industrial sector, or programming projects. Those who are interested in the application of mathematics in other areas of science, can also choose modules from a minor.

Possible lines of work:

Insurance industry, banking, IT, financial/personnel services firms, corporate consultants, industrial research and development (e.g. automotive industry/energy sector/medtech and biotech), logistics, academia (teaching/research at universities, research institutions, etc.)

Examination Regulations (German versions are legally binding)

University degree (German or non-German) in mathematics or a related discipline

English language proficiency (CEFR level B2)

Minimum grade of 2.5 or local equivalent

Modules in mathematics worth a minimum of 120 ECTS credits

Applicants from outside Germany or another EU country must pass the aptitude test for university studies.

Department of Mathematics 1 1

Subject-specific Study Advisory Service 2

Central Study Advisory and Counseling Service 3

Advice and support from fellow students 4

Self-assessments to help you choose a subject

Preliminary 6  courses 7 7 8

Examination regulations 9 8 1

Module guides 10

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• CAREER FEATURE
• 08 May 2024

How I fled bombed Aleppo to continue my career in science

• Benjamin Plackett 0

Benjamin Plackett is a senior editor at Nature Index.

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

A member of the rebel Free Syrian Army walks past a burnt-out Syrian army tank in northern Aleppo province in 2012. Credit: Daniel Leal/AFP/Getty

Working scientist profiles

This article is part of an occasional Nature series in which we profile scientists with unusual career histories or outside interests.

Aref Kyyaly has a guiding principle: don’t give up. That might sound clichéd or trite, but in his journey to find a stable job and a safe place to live, he and his wife have been stretched and tested to the extremes. He’s been separated from his family, seen his workplace blown up, sustained physical injuries and been forced into an asylum-seeker system that he was desperate to avoid.

Kyyaly was born in 1978 in Aleppo — a city in Syria then famed for its bazaars and historic citadel, rather than for being war-torn. He studied applied chemistry at the University of Aleppo, and met his wife, Razan, in 2006 before they went to Egypt, where he pursued a PhD in biochemistry at Cairo University.

When they returned to Syria in 2009, he soon found work as a researcher in a factory that was one of the country’s biggest producers of yeast, while also lecturing part-time at his alma mater. Things were looking good. But the Syrian revolution broke out in 2011, and the ensuing civil war saw armed groups with differing world views — ranging from the Free Syrian Army to ISIS — take over large swathes of the country. The Syrian regime’s army had a base close to the factory, and militias opposed to it began to use the factory grounds to launch rockets at the base, which in turn made the factory a target.

Freedom and safety in science

“We were commuting during the clashes. If we stopped [operating the factory] there’d have been no bread, so we worked seven or eight months under these conditions and it was really hard, because you’d see people dying in the streets and you couldn’t do anything,” he remembers. “We kept doing that until the factory was completely bombed by airplanes.”

Then came money problems. “I had no real work; I was only part-time at the university and the value of the currency dropped at the same time.” His monthly salary, which had been worth around US$400, went down to the equivalent of around $50. “I couldn’t afford to buy anything,” he says. Despite the financial stresses, Kyyaly was still trying to remain in Syria. “I’m my parents’ only son,” he explains. But when he was seriously hurt in an explosion, he finally resolved to get himself, his wife and their two children out. He and his wife had a third child once they left Syria.

He started to send e-mails to everyone he knew who worked at universities abroad. He also contacted many people he didn’t know. At one point he got an offer to work in Libya, but it fell through before he could travel. “In retrospect, I’m lucky that happened,” he says, because Libya was descending into its second civil war in 2014.

Of the 50 or so e-mails that Kyyaly sent, one landed in the inbox of the Council for At-Risk Academics (Cara), an organization based in the United Kingdom that tries to help scholars around the world who are forced to flee owing to a high risk of imprisonment, injury or death. Cara tries to find positions for researchers such as Kyyaly in safe countries, offering both practical and financial support to make that happen. The majority of people he contacted didn’t reply, so he was surprised when Cara called him in 2014. He moved to the United Kingdom later that year. “It was like a door was opened for me.”

How three refugee scientists kept their research hopes alive

Zeid Al Bayaty, Cara’s deputy director, was behind the call. At the time, Al Bayaty was also in touch with a number of other Syrian scholars. “When Syrian applicants heard about Cara, they were convinced that it was too good to be true and some of them were quite suspicious,” he says. But once the first cohort of Syrians had arrived to join Cara’s fellowship programme, “they told colleagues back in Syria and then the number of applications significantly increased. Aref was in that first early wave,” he says.

At the peak of the war in Syria, Cara was receiving about 20 applications per week, says Al Bayaty. When Russia invaded Ukraine, Al Bayaty and his colleagues expected a similar influx of calls from researchers looking to leave. But it didn’t quite pan out in the same way. “There were a number of situations where we placed Ukrainians at [UK] universities, but they then chose not to come because they had other opportunities on the continent and they chose to go to Germany instead,” he says. “Don’t get me wrong, it’s great that the visas were more straightforward for Ukrainians and so they had options. We just wish it was like that for more countries in conflict.”

Most applications today are coming from scientists in the Palestinian territories and Sudan, says Al Bayaty.

Within six months of that first call with Al Bayaty, Kyyaly was on a one-way flight to the United Kingdom. Cara had helped him to secure a visa and find a job as a research associate in the International Centre for Brewing Science at the University of Nottingham. But it was another eight months before the paperwork for his wife and children could be sorted out. Leaving them behind was incredibly tough, he says. “You can imagine what it was like when you listen to the news,” he says. “It was very, very horrible at times.”

After spending a year in Nottingham, he moved to the University of Southampton’s faculty of medicine, where he spent a couple of years as a research fellow before helping to set up a laboratory for the Isle of Wight Birth Cohort, a longitudinal study that investigates allergies. “I changed field again to asthma and allergy,” he says.

Aref Kyyaly appreciates the inclusivity of UK society. Credit: Sami Sultan

None of this chopping and changing of jobs and locations was for CV-building purposes. Kyyaly says he hasn’t really had the luxury of thinking about his career trajectory. If there was a gap in his employment, he would run the risk of having his visa revoked, in which case he’d need to either return to Syria or apply for asylum. So, he was often forced to jump from one post to another when academic funding ran out or looked unstable.

Eventually, things caught up with him: his Syrian passport was about to expire and, to keep his UK work visa, he would have had to return to Syria to renew his passport. This forced Kyyaly’s hand, and he applied for asylum in the United Kingdom.

It took two-and-a-half years for the UK government to reach a decision to allow him to stay as an asylum seeker, he says. That’s fairly typical of the UK asylum system; a 2021 report from the Refugee Council, a UK charity, found that the number of people waiting more than a year for an initial decision on their asylum claim rose from 3,588 in 2010 to 33,016 in 2020.

Podcast: Dodging snipers, fleeing war: displaced researchers share their stories

Kyyaly is now a lecturer in biomedical science at Solent University in Southampton, UK. He spends most of his time teaching, but he is also investigating molecular biomarkers for complicated and difficult-to-diagnose diseases and conditions, such as cancers and allergies.

It’s a job he enjoys and most importantly, he says, it’s a permanent role. But when he looks back at his career history, he sees how his immigration status and the geopolitics of the Middle East severely limited his options. If he had been able to secure a permanent job when he arrived in the United Kingdom, he thinks his current salary would have reached at least £70,000 (US$87,000). “I’m on half of that now,” he says. “I have friends who started four or five years after me and now they’re way ahead of me.”

But it’s about more than money. “If you are doing research in one topic for eight years, then you’re an expert,” he says. “But if you’re changing every two years, yes, you have a broader range of skills and things, but if you’re applying for funding or for jobs, then you’re not that attractive.”

But this is where Kyyaly’s “guiding principle” comes into play.

“If you’re passionate about research, about science, I think my advice is to never give up. I was about to give up in 2013 before I reached out to Cara because everything felt closed to me,” he says. Now he has a job he loves; his children are enjoying school in the United Kingdom; and he and his wife feel accepted into British society. It’s been years since he last saw his parents but he’s hoping in the near future to be able to meet them once again.

“If you have to change fields, change fields. Change jobs if you must. Keep moving. Keep your dream in your mind until you have the chance to get it out into the real world.”

That mentality, Kyyaly says, has allowed him to keep his dignity and a sense of agency through very tough times. “You can’t change life to follow you. You need to follow life. It’s very similar to sailing. You cannot control the wind, but you can control the sail.”

Quick-fire questions

Do you have a favourite quote.

“Whoever saves a life, it is as if he saved all of humanity.” It’s my favourite verse from the Koran and it shows the importance of human life in Islam. You don’t need to be a Muslim to see the beauty of that phrase. I think it also takes the pressure off you when you feel overwhelmed by the world’s huge problems, such as war. You don’t need to solve the whole thing by yourself; just try to improve things if you can, where you can.

If you weren’t a scientist, what would you have been?

I would have loved to be a medical doctor or a pharmacist because I’m passionate about helping people to fight different diseases. I think that’s why I’ve worked on allergies in the past and I’m now focused on disease biomarkers.

What do you miss most about Syria?

My parents, sister and friends. It’s hard to be so far apart and know it’s not like we can just hop on a flight to see each other.

What do you like most about living in the United Kingdom?

The inclusivity of most of the people here, both in terms of the general public but also the institutions. After living through a civil war, you really appreciate that.

If you could go back and time and meet yourself as a recent PhD graduate, what advice would you give yourself?

Honestly, I’d have told myself not to go back to Syria from Cairo. I’d have said, get you and your family out of Syria. I waited too long to do that.

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-024-01374-0

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