It is some eight decades since Christ Church, Oxford, offered Albert Einstein refuge from Nazi Germany.

To one internal critic of this act of generosity to “a German”, of all people, the college’s dean at the time countered: “[Einstein’s] attainments and reputation are so high that they transcend national boundaries, and any university in the world ought to be proud of having him.”

The legacy of that decision continues today. The Observer has learned that, in the spirit of the 1930s, Oxford is once again opening its doors to imperilled intellectuals. Academics fleeing Syria, where 250,000 people have died in the civil war, have been quietly offered positions at Christ Church, St John’s and Merton. Several other colleges, including Hertford and Wadham, are expected to follow their lead.

Stephen Wordsworth, executive director of the Council for At Risk Academics (Cara), an organisation established by Beveridge before the second world war, co-ordinating Oxford’s efforts, said that he had met some of the heads of colleges and that things were “moving well”.

“I hope we will soon be able to add to the number of people we can support,” he said. “The great majority of the people we help nowadays urgently need to escape from very difficult or dangerous situations, but feel strongly that it is their duty to return, when they can, to help rebuild better societies in their home countries.

I hope we will soon be able to add to the number of people we can support Stephen Wordsworth, executive director of Cara

“In the meantime, they need to find places at universities and similar institutions where they and their families will be safe, and where they can maintain and develop the skills and networks they will need, when that time comes.”

It is understood that Cara has so far placed four Syrian academics at Oxford colleges. Wordsworth said they have another 100 applicants, two-thirds of whom are Syrians, whom they wish to support. His organisation is currently supporting 140 academics from the wider Middle East.

Those taken in by colleges will have their university fees, accommodation, food and professional costs met, and are invited to stay for a maximum of two years.

At Christ Church, the dean, the Very Rev Professor Martyn Percy, said a Syrian professor of pharmaceutical chemistry, Hadia AlMahli, started her time with them this month and they could be open to others joining her.

“We took a decision several months ago that we would try to offer hospitality to academics at risk in the Middle East,” said Percy, whose college is one of the largest and wealthiest in Oxford.

“Hadia was in Aleppo working at the university when she was forced to leave because of missiles and rockets raining down on the city.”

When Einstein moved to Princeton from Oxford in 1933, he asked that the £400 stipend he received from the college be used to save fellow émigrés.

It is unlikely that Oxford’s colleges will take in more than a dozen academics from Syria, given their financial pressures. But they say they hope to live up to their past.