Leaving Russia for Love

Alexander Antonov, a subgroup leader at the University of Regensburg, moved from Russia to Germany to be with his partner, without any job prospects lined up. Two more reasons ultimately drove him to leave Russia.

This story is about how fortunate I was to have many good people in my life who supported my academic journey.

In 2011, I started my PhD project in the group of Alexander Pozharskii (1938–2025) at the Southern Federal University, Rostov-on-Don, Russian Federation.

Pozharskii was a beacon in the scientific world for me. He taught me how to plan an experiment, how to write research papers, how to supervise students, how to apply for grants, and how to teach. I am who I am today in great part thanks to him and his teachings.

With his guidance and support, I managed to be appointed as an assistant professor at the Southern Federal University in 2012—while I was only a 23-year-old PhD student. It is an entry-level academic position in Russia with responsibilities in teaching and research, which can be held by PhD students in exceptional cases. This allowed me to establish my own subgroup, acquire external research funding, and develop an independent research field of non-covalent interactions in polar organometallic chemistry. In 2014, I received my PhD degree and continued working there.

In 2016, a twist happened in my life. During a visit to Germany, I met a man who I fell in love with. When I had to return to Russia, we maintained a long-distance relationship. At this point, it became clear to me that to be together with him, I needed to find a position at a German university.

However, this required much higher scientific achievements than I was getting with the limited resources of my home university.

So, in 2017, I started contacting research groups in Germany. Ruth Gschwind, Professor at the University of Regensburg, supported my application for a Humboldt Research Fellowship, which was, however, declined. Meanwhile, my efforts in Russia were more successful: after a postdoctoral stay at the University of Saint Petersburg in 2018, I was appointed Associate Professor there the following year. By then, my long-distance relationship had been going on for three years.

Undeterred, I secured my first research visit in Germany: I stayed in touch with Gschwind, and in 2020, with DAAD funding, I secured a three-month research stay in her group, and was invited for another research stay the following year. Besides carrying out great research, this allowed me to spend more time with my boyfriend.

A gay professor in Russia

Life as a gay man in Russia has always carried risk, especially since the introduction of the so-called anti-gay law in 2013—officially the law “For the Purpose of Protecting Children from Information Advocating a Denial of Traditional Family Values”. This law intensified pressure on the LGBTQ+ community. However, it did not significantly threaten one‘s individual academic career or personal freedom.

Until 2022, my academic career was progressing well, but my further work in the Russian academic sphere became increasingly precarious.

First, the new Russian laws called for the prosecution of members of the LGBTQ+ community. A new amendment banned the promotion of “non-traditional relationships” among people of any age. This amendment effectively rendered the existence of LGBTQ+ people in Russia illegal, and made working in academia dangerous: since a university professor is considered a role model for the younger generation, virtually any aspect of one‘s identity or conduct could be construed as “propaganda” if authorities chose to pursue it.

Second, the war with Ukraine triggered military mobilization in Russia, creating a real risk that I could be called to the battlefield. In addition, I anticipated that securing external funding would become increasingly difficult, which could have brought my research to a halt.

So, I chose my personal happiness over my career. In December 2022, I left my position at the University of Saint Petersburg, moved to Germany, and married my boyfriend in January 2023.

Leaving Russia was, surprisingly, an easy choice. Of course, I hesitated and second-guessed myself, because leaving behind the group I had built was extremely difficult. But the risks and prospects of staying were clear enough to make the choice straightforward. My personal connection to Germany was never an issue. Professionally, however, official collaboration with German colleagues became difficult, since German universities adopted policies prohibiting official contact with Russian institutions after the start of the war.

Finding his footing in Germany

Surprisingly, moving to Germany was not the end of my academic path, thanks to Ruth Gschwind and Valeri P. Tolstoy. Upon my arrival in Germany, I visited Gschwind, and she generously offered me a temporary researcher position in her group within a research training group (Graduiertenkolleg, RTG 2620).

While I worked on Gschwind‘s research projects, she allowed me some freedom and independence to pursue my own research projects part-time. At the same time, Tolstoy provided me with the opportunity to keep supervising my team in his group in Saint Petersburg, which made it possible for me to continue publishing papers.

In 2023, I met one of my personal heroes in organometallic chemistry, Paul Knochel. We found common research interests and after learning my story, Knochel arranged the opportunity for me to give lectures to Master‘s students at LMU Munich.

All of this allowed me to maintain a strong research profile. However, being younger would have made things easier. Given my academic age, I no longer qualify for prestigious early-career programs such as the Liebig Fellowship, the Emmy Noether Programme, or an ERC starting grant, which would have supported me in building a research group in Germany from scratch.

However, in March 2026, the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) approved my research grant proposal, giving me the opportunity to establish a group in Germany and pave the way towards a professorship.

Looking back at my German journey, I am very happy with how things turned out: I am happily married, I have a good job, and I can pursue my own research interests. My attitude towards Germany never changed: I loved it from my very first visit, and that feeling has stayed with me ever since. Russia does not feel like home anymore, although my parents and friends still live there. My life is here now, so Germany is my home.

Alexander Antonov

Wissenschaft + Forschung