Nashwa Eassa, NUIEC Scholar Lecture Series

Country of Origin: Sudan
Location: UK

“Beyond Adaptation: Rethinking Scholar-at-Risk Support for Transformation“

Scholar-at-risk programmes play an essential role in helping academics move to safety and continue their work when their careers and institutions are disrupted by war, persecution or political instability. Yet protection is only the beginning. The New University in Exile Consortium itself recognizes the importance of helping displaced scholars navigate new professional paths and has highlighted the difficult transition many scholars face when fellowships end.

Drawing on my own experience as a Cara Fellow, together with my interactions with scholars supported through different programmes, this lecture asks whether adaptation to the host academic environment to a realistic or sufficient goal is always.

After relocation, scholars may enter very different research systems, funding environments, institutional cultures and labour markets. They may face gaps in knowledge of the new system, limited professional networks, restricted opportunities and strong competition for funding and employment. For established academics, previous leadership, research experience and professional standing may not easily translate into the host environment.

The lecture therefore explores a different approach: transformation rather than adaptation.

Instead of asking only how displaced scholars can fit into existing systems, we can ask what new value can be created by bringing together the scholar’s expertise, experience and networks with the host institution’s research tools, facilities, methodologies and connections. This could include co-designed research, new partnerships, targeted funding opportunities and projects that address shared problems while supporting the scholar’s professional progression and, where relevant, contribute to academic communities affected by conflict.

The central question is:

What is the cost of expecting displaced scholars mainly to adapt, and what could be gained if scholar-at-risk programmes were designed around transformation instead?

The lecture proposes a possible pathway:

Protection → Connection → Co-creation → Transformation → Sustainable Contribution