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ACADEMIC FREEDOM IN EUROPE 2021 FACTS FAU The Pol
itical Institute at FAU ErlangenNürnberg's research and teaching focus on challenges to democracies and states that deviate from the democratic norm, on the accelerating changes in the international order, and on managing technological innovation. It cooperates with the V-Dem Institute on the Afi project. Afi The Academic Freedom Index (AFi) project is a collaborative effort launched in 2019. AFi scores rely on five separate indicators, which in turn are based on assessments by nearly 2,000 country experts. They are collected and integrated by V-Dem using a Bayesian measurement model. I n summary, these exemplary cases show that where democracy is in danger, academic freedom also seems to be threatened. This is particularly the case in Eastern European countries where anti-pluralist populists are in government and where young democracy is still unconsolidated. In the United Kingdom academic freedom seems to be threatened from the inside, not by democratic backsliding and 88 | NORDICLIFESCIENCE.ORG populist leaders. However, while academic freedom remains strong in most European countries, it is declining in some countries, posing a threat to the free exchange of ideas and the pursuit of knowledge. In light of the ongoing global deterioration in democracy, it is crucial that governments, academic institutions, and civil society organizations take steps to protect and promote academic freedom. Downward trends can be broken. For this, a scientific community is needed that does not accept the restrictions of its academic freedom by democratically elected governments but rather problematizes and advocates against them. NLS DR. LARS PELKE, FAU ERLANGENNÜRNBERG ILLUSTRATION FAU ERLANGEN-NÜRNBERG