Leopoldina Home Menü

Leopoldina Home

News | Friday, 03 February 2017

Science is international

German Scientific Organizations are extremely concerned about the executive order signed by the President of the United States this past Friday. The generation of scientific insights is contingent upon discourse that is forthright, unfettered and international. It hinges on the interdisciplinary personal exchange between academic disciplines, nations and cultures. The executive order is a sweeping discrimination of human beings based on their ethnicity and consequently also an act of aggression against the fundamental values of science.

It will gravely impair the international exchange that is of such critical importance for scientific collaboration. Some of the initial consequences are already evident in the field of science: Numerous scientists on global assignments were not granted entry into the United States. As a result, they have been barred from attending scientific conventions, symposiums and seminars.

Reliability and dependable planning/scheduling options of its social contexts are indispensable factors for international science and research. Especially in times of international crises, science is a valuable link between nations. Consequently, the German Scientific Organizations call upon the U.S. government to immediately repeal the immigration ban. The organizations will support the scientists affected by the executive order who work for them as well as their cooperative partners in America.

The statement was written by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, German Rectors' Conference, Leibniz Association, German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, German Academic Exchange Service, Helmholtz Association, Max Planck Society and the German Council of Science and Humanities.