Study support scholarships decided for university students in refugee situations
20 young people that are currently seeking asylum receive a grant in the form of aid to cover the costs of their studies at the UAB. 15,500 euros have been awarded thanks to the support of the Caixa Enginyers Foundation and donations collected in the "Ukraine Emergency" crowdfunding campaign.
16/01/2023
#UABRefugi Scholarships are an initiative of the UAB Refugee Hosting Programme managed by the Fundació Autònoma Solidària. Since this programme was set up in 2016, the UAB has become a host campus that supports people in need of international protection. For the 202223 academic year, 34 refugee students have received scholarships to begin or resume their university education at the UAB.
Students that are seeking asylum and/or that are in similar circumstances face major obstacles when it comes to resuming their university studies due to the situation of social, administrative and economic vulnerability that forced displacement entails. That is why these scholarship grants are necessary to complement the free tuition and cover expenses related to their studies such as travel, materials, technology or other costs that are necessary for academic training.
The call, from which 20 students have benefitted, was co-financed by the Caixa d’Enginyers Foundation in the form of 10,000 euros and by the voluntary monetary contributions of people from the university community and UAB institutions through the “#UABRefugi Ukraine Emergency Scholarships” crowdfunding campaign. Once again, the Caixa d’Enginyers Foundation has demonstrated its commitment to university access for refugee students by opening this UAB Enginy call for scholarship for the 2022-23 academic year.
Of the beneficiaries, there are 9 are undergraduate, 9 master's and 2 doctorate students, of whom 6 are women and 14 are men.
#UABRefugi Ukraine Emergency Scholarship Campaign
At the beginning of this academic year, and due to the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, the UAB reaffirmed its commitment to refugee academic communities and attended to students affected by the conflict by opening this call for extraordinary grants. It also expanded the #UABRefugi scholarship budget so that more asylum-seeking students from other places could resume their studies in the 2022-23 academic year.
Along these lines, in May, the “#UABRefugi – Ukraine Emergency Crowdfunding Campaign” was set up to involve the whole UAB community in supporting university populations that have been affected by the war.
The university community and different UAB institutions have come out in support of the campaign. 75 donors, the vast majority from the UAB's teaching, research, admin and service staff, have contributed 5,710 euros to the scholarships. Institutions like the SAF, Alumni and the UAB Foundation have also given essential support to the campaign.