Celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Scholars at Risk (SAR) Network at USI: interview to Prof. Villeneuve

Scholars at Risk (SAR) 25th anniversary (2025–2026) is a year-long celebration of shared accomplishments. SAR reports have supported thousands of at-risk scholars, documented attacks on higher education institutions in over 100 countries and advocated for stronger protections for academic freedom worldwide. USI has a strong international vocation, welcoming people from over 100 different countries, among its students, faculty, researchers, and administrative staff.

In this multicultural and globally oriented context, USI promotes cultural diversity and equal opportunities while remaining sensitive to the current global challenges. USI has been a member of the SAR Network since 2016, sharing its values and principles to protect threatened scholars and promote academic freedom, for example, by arranging temporary academic positions at member universities. The anniversary theme, “Truth Matters,” is an opportunity to reaffirm USI’s commitment to these values. As a member of the network, we are invited to contribute by committing to the strengthening effort for academic freedom.

Last September 2025 the exhibition Migrazione was an opportunity to offer the public a different and impactful perspective on SAR and InclUSIone (a preparatory programme for talented students from the asylum sector), emphasizing the challenges and experiences of migrants and exiles, through powerful and evocative photos, and the role of universities to foster inclusion and academic freedom. Parwiz Mosamim, PhD candidate at the Institute of Communication and Public Policy and the first Scholar at Risk hosted at USI, highlighted the crucial role of the SAR Network in protecting academic freedom and supporting threatened researchers and stressed that academic freedom must be continuously defended.

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We would like to provide you with a deeper insight into the topic “Truth Matters” by sharing an interview with Prof. Jean-Patrick Villeneuve, Full Professor of Public Administration and Management at USI, Director of the Institute of Communication and Public Policy (ICPP), Head of GRIP (Public Integrity Research Group), and Co-Director of the Master's programme in Public Management and Policy (offered in collaboration with the Universities of Lausanne and Bern). His research focuses on transparency, anti-corruption, and accountability with attention to the limitations, challenges and impacts related to the implementation of these governance initiatives. Since 2021, he has collaborated with four scholars within his research group. Here follows the interview.

Prof. Villeneuve, we’ll start with a direct question: why does truth matter?

"Truth is central, especially in a university environment. As academics we try to approach truth in many different ways, through different disciplines, different methodologies. Do we succeed? Is it even possible? These questions are valid, but we should always strive for it with the best intentions and all our energies. Doing the opposite would mean falsehoods, misinformation, fake news, and other deviant strategies. We are, unfortunately, starting to see where that leads us. I love the quote 'Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not to their own facts'. Universities are the place where we should identify, structure and make sense of these facts. As a scholar of public administration, this means developing the building blocks for ‘fact-based policy making’ and not, one hopes, ‘policy-based fact making’".

Last November at the annual conference USI signed the Magna Charta Universitatum, reaffirming “its contribution to the construction of an open, sustainable and cooperative academic space, capable of addressing the global challenges of the present with a critical spirit and solidarity”. During that same conference, SAR’s Executive Director Robert Quinn stated “violence is not the primary tool of repression. Isolation is".

Prof. Villeneuve, how should we understand this statement?

"Violence is an almost banal strategy for authoritarian governments. It keeps oppositions down… at least for a while. But, at some point, this violence becomes counterproductive as it federates oppositions. In the face of violence, one can fight back. Yes, the costs can be very high, but it is possible. Isolation is entirely different. It is less visible, less ‘in your face’ and can be used by all kinds of regimes, not only by authoritarian ones. When one is isolated, there is no way to fight back. You are alone. Remember the Star Wars resistance quote 'We have friends everywhere'. Any serious opposition means federating forces, sharing ideas and dreams. Finding friends. In isolation none of this is possible".

How do current global political and institutional changes, such as authoritarianism, security, and the increasing role of the market in HEIs, affect academic freedom?

"It has a direct impact. In academia some topics are polarising and generate tensions. This is normal. It is a sign these very topics are important and worth researching. But today it also means that it is easier to avoid them. In other countries we have seen professors being sidelined and even fired for their choice of research topic, the angle of their research. In such an environment, why tackle topics like democracy or corruption, when one can focus on more consensual research projects? It is easier for everyone, but destructive for the institution. More perniciously, the situation has a less indirect impact in the current environment: any position, irrespective of its academic nature, its methodological solidity, will be captured by those involved in what amounts, in many if not most cases, to a purely political strategic positioning. There is a danger of being instrumentalised, by one side or the other, in any debate. Reason, truth, used to be the arbiters of this. It is less and less the case".

How do governments and political leaders use funding, regulations, or public statement to influence academic freedom? Does this have an impact on self-censorship?

"As scholars we need resources for carrying out projects. To fund doctoral students, to pay for computer analysis programmes, to attend conferences with peers. Some research requires more funds than others, but even if purely on an individual career trajectory, obtaining project funding is a must. One way of redirecting the efforts of research is to simply cut funding on certain topics or even entire disciplines. The impact will be relatively rapid with current scholars, but massive in terms of the next generation. They will have been trained as PhD students and promoted to professors by focusing on specific funded topics… and not on others. Quickly angles of research, methodologies and whole fields can be sidelined. This is why we need research that is as openly funded as possible".

Academic freedom is often seen as an indicator of a nation’s democratic strength. However, there are also several threats to academic freedom in countries with democratic systems. Is academic freedom increasingly threatened in those countries?

"I think it is in danger everywhere. In non-democratic countries of course. But in a way, this is just a logical consequence of the system by which these countries operate. More worrying is the changes we see in democratic, open countries; notably through what has been termed ‘illiberal democracy’. On the one hand, the financial and managerial imperative increasingly focuses on the logic of 'do not make waves'. Controversial topics should be avoided, and problems, even as minor as students not being happy with their grades, should be avoided at all costs. This is what some have termed administrative cowardise. On the other hand, we increasingly see almost capillary reactions to opinions institutions might not like, or professors might not like, or students might not like. Let’s be consensual, at all costs. But, if the university is not the place to hear anyone and everyone and be able to ask questions and debate the non-consensual… where should this take place? And beyond this, what does the university serve then? Why are we being funded? Hearing these voices and ideas is essential for students to make sense of their environment, to be exposed to all realities, all viewpoints, because outside of the university… these things exist, they have an impact. I do not want my students to discover them once they graduate, ill-equipped and panicked to see options and analytical grids they cannot deal with as they have been sheltered and not made resilient, active, and capable in the front of an ever-evolving social environment".

What role do institutions and networks such as SAR play in the current context? How does this programme influence the international reputation of USI and of Swiss HEIs more broadly?

"SaR as an international system allows to have a fair, just transparent, and safe system. For scholars at risk themselves. This is a safe and recognized process. But also, for institutions. SaR guarantees that the people we integrate in our institutions are scholars and that they are at risk. Seems trivial in a way, but it is important. Universities do not all have the capacity, and bandwidth, to make these determinations. In terms of its impact for institutions, it allows us, forces us, to face the current societal challenges at the very highest levels. In a period where the credibility, relevance and importance of universities are put into question, where our budgets are being cut, having a direct and concrete impact on world affairs is yes essential, but also serves as a signal of the myriads of roles a university plays in society. At the end of the process, it is important that research moves forward, that the next generation of scholars is being trained and this despite on-going crises. By this, the university contributes its very own, very specific, contribution, to the necessary dialogues to ensure that scholars at risk are, in the near future, still scholars but no longer at risk".

Since 2021, Prof. Villeneuve has hosted four SAR scholars and moderated public events on academic freedom and freedom of speech, for instance, the round table “Academic Research and Freedom of Speech”, featuring Parwiz Mosamim, Sergii Tukaev and Ahmed Hussein Abdelrahman Adam. As members of the USI community, we believe these informative and awareness-raising initiatives have a big impact on our community on a socio-cultural level and give us the meaningful and precious opportunity to reflect on those topics. In a July 2022 interview about the “International Conference for the Reconstruction of Ukraine - The role of academia”, Villeneuve also highlighted the important contribution of the SAR scholars he has collaborated, and are collaborating, with.

Prof. Villeneuve, what impact have these collaborations had on your area of research at academic level?

"Opening doors, making new terrains available, integrating new networks, learning new things. Best example? With Parwiz Mosamim, a PhD student from Afghanistan, we carried out fully secured interviews of Aghani female civil servant. We could then document their experience, and better understand the dynamics even before the return of the Taliban in 2021. I could never have done this. Technically and linguistically of course, but chances are they would not have been willing to talk to me. This led to academic articles and beyond that to UN report contributions, and policy inputs at the very highest levels".

Collaborating with scholars with a vulnerable or at-risk background also requires interpersonal skills, sensitivity and intercultural competence. What are the main challenges in such collaborations, and what aspects must be considered?

"We must take into account where they come from, their expertise and academic background, but also their own national and cultural academic traditions. A university is a university, but that reality varies widely across countries. How do you become a professor? What are the expectations of a PhD student, of a professor? What position do these roles have socially? These vary across Western-Europe. Internationally, some are diametrically opposed. You have to be aware of these. One must also take into account the ‘risk’ aspect of the scholar. On a daily basis, they follow what is happening back in their country; being in contact with family and friends that are at risk often on a daily basis. This does not make for a serene environment. As a supervisor, one must recognise and integrate this reality in the piloting of hosted scholars but also ensure that the rest of the research team is aware and cognizant of these realities".

While these collaborations present challenges, how do they offer opportunities to strengthen our own intercultural skills and awareness?

"They make it aware of diversity not as an easy symbolic concept, but as a lived reality. With SAR, a context that is evolving day to day. A context that makes some mundane activities impossible. Just going to a conference, depending on the location, might not be possible for them. In a recent case, this was due to fearing potential kidnapping by the security forces of the country the scholar has fled. Comfortable Switzerland is not far from the most problematic dynamics on the planet. Nothing like having someone fleeing these regions around the table to make one aware, on a daily basis, of the challenges being faced".

Could you share with us a particularly meaningful moment or moments from your experience in collaborating with SAR scholars?

"The arrival of our 1st (mine and USI) SAR, Parwiz Mosamim, after months of procedures, was particularly significant. Having him here with us at the Lugano train station… finally! And knowing that he would not be forced to go back to Afghanistan and thus face immediate personal risks. This is not another funded PhD student arriving, but a contribution that is much more significant. A second event was seeing him, piloting an event on Afghanistan with both an academic part, and more social activities open to all Ticino residents; federating the whole Swiss Afghani community. It showed directly the impact this has on an individual, an academic community, and the whole social tissue in which USI is embedded. Also remember hosting an Afghan women carrying out classes for young girls in her basement in Kaboul; at the peril of her life and that of her children. Exposing students to such courageous people, with the blinds of the aula being shut, phones put aside for safety reasons, is something that will stay with them, and with me, for many years".