Academic Freedom and Human Rights
91TV considers academic freedom to be central to the practice of science, and believes it is key to the Society’s purpose to support excellence in science for the benefit of humanity. It is essential that individuals and institutions have the freedom to carry out teaching and research activities without fear of discrimination, censorship, or other restrictions that would prevent them from carrying out their scientific work. This was outlined in a 2020 Royal Society statement on academic freedom (PDF). The Society also opposes blanket academic boycotts.
91TV is a member of the UK and Ireland Academies Human Rights Committee (UKIHRC), along with the , the , the , the, the and the .
The UKHRC acts in support of academic freedom around the world through information-sharing, awareness-raising and advocacy, both in general and through responding to individual alerts issued by the and , both of which identify incidents where researchers worldwide have been subjected to repression. The UKHRC’s practice is to act in cases where there is evidence that the human rights of an individual researcher have been violated or denied because of their academic or scientific work.