We would like to express our shock and bewilderment at the unjustifiable attack on Ukraine in violation of international law. In addition to the inconceivable suffering of the people in the affected region, this war also calls into question the stability and security of Europe that we have been accustomed too.

As an internationally active institute, we are committed to advancing knowledge through the free exchange of ideas across borders. This presupposes a free democratic basic order, which makes it possible to exchange points of view and arguments and thus create knowledge – this basic democratic order is non-negotiable. For this reason, we at Fraunhofer ISI support the declaration of the Alliance of German Science Organizations, including the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, which has declared its solidarity with its scientific partners in Ukraine. Furthermore, our solidarity is not only with the people affected in Ukraine, but also with all those, for example in Russia and Belarus, who resolutely reject this war and cannot freely express this without consequences. We would also especially like to express our empathy with our staff members who themselves have family members or friends in the war region and whose lives are now being determined by the terrible consequences of the war.

The war forces many people to leave their homes unexpectedly overnight. For any of them, who are now looking for a place in south-west Germany where they can pursue their research activities, at least temporarily, we would like to make office space and IT access available in Karlsruhe within the scope of our resources. Please get in touch if you are interested or if you know someone who could benefit from this offer.

In the spirit of the free exchange of knowledge, we will continue our campaign #50Years50Weeks as well as our other activities around the 50^th anniversary of Fraunhofer ISI, and of course all of our research work, together with many other free organizations, in order to not leave the arena to those who started this war and approve of it. War can and never will be a solution.