Academia in conflict zones: an update from the Middle East

Conflicts and civil wars in many parts of the Middle East cause economic repercussions across all sectors, including higher education and scientific research. Nature Middle East spoke with researchers and academics from Sudan, Lebanon, Syria, and Palestine about limited resources, brain drain, difficulties in field research or lab work, and the countless challenges that hold back education and data collection.

Safety and logistics

While all these countries are torn by conflicts, the challenges and obstacles facing researchers and academics vary.

For instance, Gaza had experienced previous conflicts, however, the destruction that followed October 7 attacks is unprecedented.

According to the Palestinian Ministry of Education and Higher Education, 11 of the 19 universities and higher education institutions were partially or completely destroyed, thus preventing 88,000 Palestinian students from completing their education.

Even before the war, there were huge restrictions on Gazan students and academics wanting to complete their studies abroad, especially given the high travel costs. Since the war started, they have no hope of leaving.  “I don’t know where to start when it comes to the logistical problems,” says Samer Abuzerr, an assistant professor at the University College of Science and Technology in Khan Yunis, Gaza. “My university was wiped out, and so were other universities like Al-Israa University, the Islamic University, and the University of Palestine.”

In Lebanon, universities are more preoccupied with education than research, says Sima Hamadeh, an associate professor of public health nutrition and program coordinator of nutrition and dietetics sciences at Haigazian University, Beirut. Instability means that a researcher might embark on studying something only to be forced to stop. And after a while, the research becomes outdated and useless.

Highlighting the other challenges facing academic in Lebanon, Hamadeh listed the lack of a financial or psychological support system for researchers, the obstacles to data collection, and the difficulty of reaching workplaces or field research sites.

The situation in Sudan is not much different. Before the current war, Sudan had 39 public universities and 25 private universities, with at least 700,000 students, and 14,000 lecturers, including 8,000 PhD holders who were displaced during the war either within Sudan or across borders to neighboring countries.

When protests broke out in Sudan in 2018, the regime shut all universities, which then were re-opened in September 2019, after the interim government was appointed. Universities then closed again for six months due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, and again after the 2021 military coup.

Sudanese students can now take their exams in only seven centre: four in Sudan, and three abroad: in Riyadh, Dubai, and Cairo, says Tamer M. Abdelkarim, a sociologist and director of Khartoum University Peace Research Institute. No student may take the exam anywhere abroad other than these three cities.

University dropout rates have increased among first- and second-year students, who have begun to pursue their studies at outside Sudan. As for final-year students, most of them have opted to continue their studies so as not to start from scratch again.

“I am an academic who performs all the administrative roles administrators are expected to perform under normal circumstances, in addition to my role as a researcher and academic,” Abdelkarim says.

In Syria, higher education has faced numerous impediments, including the interference of the ruling party and the National Security Service in universities, leading to a significant increase in brain drain. This led the government to raise the retirement age from 60 to 70.

Syrian researchers also face a lack of resources and funding, all of which complicates the process of training young researchers, explains Joseph Shenekji, who holds a PhD in biotechnology engineering from the University of Aleppo. They also face difficulties in procuring equipment. Many international research institutions and centers have left Syria after the war, as the dire humanitarian situation continues.

“For eight years, we’ve had access to electricity for an hour or two a day, which is an improvement, considering the difficult period in 2014 in Aleppo, where we had to live for eight months without access to electricity, water, or the internet,” Shenekji says.

Economic barriers

Estimates show that the Palestinian GDP shrank by approximately 35.1% in 2024, with unemployment rising to approximately 49.9%.

As a result, some students are unable to pay tuition fees, leaving them in arrears after graduation, Abuzerr says. They are then barred from obtaining their graduation certificates unless an individual or institution sponsors them and undertakes to pay the arrears.

“We haven't had new students for two years because high school students haven't completed their final year, which further strained university budgets,” Abuzerr adds. “Private universities have declared bankruptcy, and researchers at public universities work either as volunteers or have their pay cut by half.”

Lebanon’s economy has been struggling since the start of the war in Syria in 2011, due to factors such as political instability, the Beirut port explosion, and restrictions on banking transactions. All of which has led to university budget cuts, salary delays, difficulties maintaining infrastructure, weak government funding for higher education institutions, and, above all, students’ inability to pay tuition fees.

“During conflicts, research takes back seat, because resources should be allocated to relief efforts, while its potential to make a significant difference in people's lives, especially during difficult times, is overlooked,” says Hamadeh. “Researchers often need to work two or more jobs to secure a decent living.”

Syria’s higher education resource shortage is attributable to the conflict, war funding, the economic crisis, and the local currency depreciation. Universities endure budgetary constraints, faculty salary cuts, and limited professional development opportunities and conference attendance.

In Sudan, as Abdelkarim puts it, “academics receive half pay, and are also suffering from currency depreciation, displacement, and staggering rents in safe states.”

Funding and academic cooperation

Conflicts have adverse impacts on cross-border academic cooperation, as well as the researcher’s ability attend conferences — from the closure of the Gaza border crossing, to the Sudanese refugees in Egypt on tourist visas that prevent them from travelling, to the difficulty of obtaining visas for Lebanese nationals.

There is no way to exchange expertise, says Abuzerr. Researchers cannot leave Gaza, and, no foreign delegations will visit under such circumstances.

Abdelkarim agrees. “Although I am a researcher at the Peace Research Institute, I can’t participate in many of the events I am invited to because I live in Egypt on a tourist visa,” he says.

“Even before the war, we’ve been facing numerous difficulties to import laboratory materials into Palestine,” says Abuzerr. “We tried to bring in lower-quality materials because the Israeli authorities do not allow in equipment or materials that could potentially have dual uses.”

“Since we cannot conduct any experimental research as well, we rely on existing public health data, along with data from interviews. We have indeed published several studies. Yet, it will take us many years to rebuild laboratories to replace those that were destroyed.”

Hamadeh believes the focus in Lebanon is on quantity at the expense of quality, and on publishing more research rather than focusing on its feasibility.

“Publishing research based on data collection during wartime introduces us a significant challenge, because the data is time-bound and hence cannot be generalized,” she says.

Thinking outside the box

Given the critical situation in Gaza, a flexible education model utilizing technology and virtual learning, with a focus on technical education that responds to local needs, is essential.

Partnerships with educational institutions outside the Gaza Strip can also be leveraged to share knowledge, resources, and best practices. This can help with capacity building, cultural exchange, and sustainability.

Virtual databases can also be used to prevent the loss of important records of educational content, student data, and faculty data.

Abuzerr is an advocate of the distance learning experience in Gaza, using recorded lectures during the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, as both lecturers and students are living in tents, all universities have adopted this approach.

To enable students to continue their education amid the current lack of resources, universities have repurposed alternative locations to continue providing their services. That could y be a Red Crescent centre, where education continues virtually. Each university has a room that students can visit if they want to ask a lecturer something. In addition, medical students are paired with some British institutes online, and many students are traveling abroad to complete their studies in cooperation with Al-Azhar University.

That is to be added to granting 13 Palestinian researchers the HESPAL scholarship in the 2024/2025 academic year to continue their studies for a master's or PhD degree in the United Kingdom. An additional track was launched in 2024 under the same scholarship, specifically designed to meet the needs of Gazan researchers, two of which have already been awarded the scholarship. Other scholarships are also available in the United Kingdom and other countries, basically for Palestinian students and academics.

In Sudan, education continues virtually. “I am currently based in Cairo, working remotely, as no one is working on campus, which remains to date occupied by the [paramilitary] Rapid Support Forces,” says Abdelkarim. “We have the virtual space, where we integrate teaching and scientific research activities.”

During his stay in Egypt, Abdelkarim has not started any new research, but is continuing his old paper with his assistants in Sudan: they collect data, and he analyses it.

“However, it cannot be denied that in some cases I need to be the one conducting the interviews,” Abdelkarim says. “Because I cannot do that, gaps in the research occur, and I am left with no other option but repeat the interview, which means additional burdens, and more time and effort wasted.”

Some universities in Sudan have been able to create virtual copies of their records, while others, such as the University of Khartoum, Al-Neelain University, and the Sudan University of Science and Technology, have lost access to database servers. This has made it difficult to obtain academic records. Some private and non-governmental universities, such as the University of Technology and Medical Sciences and Ahfad University, have moved their servers outside Sudan to ensure access.

In Syria, researchers are trying to use creative methods and alternative materials that are more accessible and less costly.

Academics globally can support the professional development of lecturers by mentoring younger faculty members, organizing grants for Syrian researchers, participating in writing and research projects, helping secure PhD scholarships, among other efforts.

They can also support libraries in Syria in accessing academic databases and publishers, developing university policies and curricula, and encouraging partnerships between Syrian and overseas universities.

To face the new reality, Lebanese universities are in the process of initiating partnerships with international universities and institutions to support academic collaboration and attract funding opportunities for joint initiatives. They are also utilizing e-learning and distance learning to ensure access to education for all students.

The researchers Nature Middle East spoke with for this article agree that there is a need to advise younger researchers to be open to academic staff from abroad, work in parallel tracks, explore the possibility of working remotely, and focus on researching topics relevant to their communities.

“I learned patience and perseverance,” Shenekji says. “We can't just stop after the hundredth attempt, because maybe the answer will come only after. That's what happened to me. I contacted 120 academic institutions over a year and a half to secure funding for my four-year research, until I finally secured funding. Despair is a luxury we don't have.”

This article is translated from Arabic. Original article is published at:

Sign-up to receive our e-alert update every two weeks to keep up with everything new on the portal.