Sanctions against Russia following its invasion of Ukraine may soon extend to scientific and academic partnerships, the Guardian reports.
It notes that Germany has announced a stop on all collaboration with Russia on education and research and that the UK science minister has called for a review of Russians who may benefit from UK science funding. Nature News adds that institutions, like MIT, have also cut ties with Russian programs on an organizational level.
The Guardian says that additional sanctions may soon prohibit UK researchers from working with Russian colleagues, freeze joint funding, and prevent Russian researchers from accessing or publishing in academic journals.
Nature adds that researchers in Ukraine are pushing for such further action, including through open letters to the European Commission and member states of the European Union.
"There should be a complete boycott of the Russian academic community. No cooperation," Maksym Strikha, a physicist at the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, tells it.
The University of Oxford's Simon Marginson tells the Guardian that UK academics would likely accept a boycott, though with concern for their Russian counterparts, many of whom he says oppose the war. The Guardian adds that nearly 4,000 graduates of Moscow State University signed a letter this week condemning the war, while some 15,000 scientists and students signed an open letter doing so.