As a university, we are dismayed by the terrible events in Ukraine and the inconceivably great suffering they have triggered. Openness, freedom and peace are and remain indispensable prerequisites for social and scientific exchange and cooperation. Students and scientists who are leaving the Ukraine because of the war are always welcome in North Rhine-Westphalia and at our university. This also applies explicitly to people from Russia and Belarus, especially to those who have to fear personal restrictions due to criticism of the war.