Maintaining scientific research and training in times of war

How can we continue to conduct scientific research and train the next generation of scientists in a country at war? This question lies at the heart of an article published in Nature Ecology and Evolution by a Ukrainian researcher from INRAE’s Centre of Biology for the Management of Populations (CBGP, Montpellier). Entitled ‘Rebuilding Ukraine’s capacity for fundamental research in evolutionary biology’, the article discusses the organisation, in January 2025, of the Ukrainian School in Evolutionary Biology (USEB), a research school dedicated to evolutionary biology.

Since the invasion of Ukraine, the country’s scientific system has been severely weakened: funding cuts, damaged research facilities and disrupted teaching and mentoring. Moreover, many scientists have joined the military to defend the country.  In this context, preserving fundamental research and maintaining an active scientific community, despite the dispersal of researchers, is a major challenge.

The USEB demonstrates how scientific communities can organise themselves to ensure the continuity of training and research. Designed as a hybrid programme, combining in-person teaching with international online participation, the school brought together over 200 participants, including 168 from Ukraine and 44 from 16 other countries, with speakers from nine countries. This flexible format made it possible to overcome security constraints and travel restrictions. The availability of recordings proved essential to ensure the continuity of lectures for students participating online who regularly faced power cuts, particularly in the most remote areas or in bomb shelters in cities close to the front lines, such as Chernihiv, Kharkiv, Dnipro and Zaporizhzhia.

With 94% of participants finding the content clear and useful, the initiative demonstrates that high-level international scientific training can be maintained even in times of war. Beyond the event itself, the aim is to preserve knowledge, maintain links between researchers in exile, colleagues who have remained in Ukraine and foreign partners, and to consolidate the international scientific networks that are essential to the continuity of activities. Ensuring these efforts are sustained over the long term and maintaining close contact with foreign researchers are essential to preserving the continuity of teaching and research for the next generation of scientists. The organisers have already begun preparations for a second edition, scheduled for early next year, in order to build on this momentum.