Two refugees will be able to continue their scientific careers on the WUR campus. Photo Shutterstock Eleven refugees will be able to continue their scientific careers in the Netherlands, thanks to a position funded through the NWO programme Hestia – Impulse for Refugees in Science. Two of these refugees will be (temporarily) employed by WUR.
Language issues and cultural differences make it hard for refugee scientists to resume their work. Their talent could be lost, which would be wasteful. This is the philosophy behind the grants programme. A Hestia grant funds a full-time position for a maximum of one-and-a-half years or a part-time position for two years.
Research domains
Contrary to previous Hestia rounds, the NWO (Dutch Research Council) will not publish the names of the candidates but only their research domains. One of the candidates in Wageningen is involved in research on luminescence dating of earthworks, such as dykes and ramparts from the Roman era, under Jacob Wallinga, professor of Soil Geography and Landscape. The other will work on the effects of antidepressants and antipsychotics on aquatic algae populations under Paul van den Brink, professor of Chemical Stress Ecology.
The NWO launched the Hestia programme with the KNAW (Royal Netherlands Academy of Sciences), the Young Academy and the foundation for refugee students UAF in 2018. This is the fourth time the Hestia grants have been awarded. A sum of just under 1.4 million euros is available in this round. There were nineteen candidates in total.
