In response to Trump administration policies, Aix Marseille University received its first application hours after opening a new program for American researchers called Safe Place for Science.
Since then, universities in the southern French region known for their science programs have received around 12 applications per day, as schools consider “scientific asylum.”
Other universities in France and other European universities are rushing to save American researchers fleeing attacks that recognize the dramatic cuts in jobs and programs by the Trump administration, as well as attacks on the entire field of research.
The university president says that what is at stake is not just the individual's work, but also the concept of free scientific research. They are also rushing to fill the huge void in collective research caused by cuts, including studies in climate change, public health, environmental science, gender and diversity, particularly in areas targeted by the Trump administration.
If the movement becomes a trend, it could mean a reversal of the long-term brain drain that saw a generation of scientists move to the US. And while at least some Europeans note that US change offers a unique opportunity to build stronger European research centres, most scholars say competition is not a short-term motivation.
“The program is ultimately linked to dig and declares it not normal to declare what is happening in the US,” says Eric Burton of Aix Marseille University, who allocated 15 million euros (nearly $16,300,000) for a 15-year three-year position.
He said the number of openings was “not that many,” but the goal was to “give them a little hope.”
In France, the University of AIX Marseille is considered the leader in pushing to invite American researchers.
Since the program was launched, the Cancer Research Foundation in Paris has announced that it will soon set up 3.5 million euros to welcome American cancer researchers. And last week, two universities in Paris announced that they were offering positions to American scientists whose jobs have been cut or suspended by the Trump administration.
“We are researchers and we want to continue working at the highest level in these areas under attack in the United States,” explained Elle Move Moofe, president of the University of Ettres, Paris University of Science and Sciences.
The university will welcome 15 researchers who are already working on shared projects in areas such as climate science, health, humanities and gender studies, Mouhoud said. As a result, he said the project will continue freely and American researchers will enjoy “academic freedom to conduct research.”
“That's good for everyone,” Mouhoud said.
The European Science Agency's warnings began to resonate as the Trump administration began to cut jobs significantly and freeze science grants as part of a wide range of cost-cutting measures.
The shooting at the U.S. Centers announces the peaks of science weekly, including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Geological Survey and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The National Institutes of Health, the world's largest funder for biomedical research, fired 1,200 employees, put on hold on grant reviews, and essentially turned off the tap of government funding for research projects in laboratories across the country.
This cut comes as some federal agencies have removed terms from websites and grant applications deemed unacceptable by the Trump administration, which is seeking to expel the “wake” initiative into the federal government. Among the terms considered taboos are “climate science,” “diversity,” and “gender.”
Taken together, scientists have brought cold weather through academia and research institutions, worrying not only about their work but also about the long-term viability of research.
“What we see today is actually censorship, censorship of fundamental values,” said Yasmin Belkaide of the Pasteur Institute in Paris.
“We could lose a generation of science, a generation of scientists, something we cannot recover,” she added. “It is our duty to ensure that the whole science is protected.”
Philip Baptist, French Minister of Higher Education and Research, is one of the most outspoken and active European leaders on the issue. Baptist, who headed research at the French National Center for Space Research before joining the government, described the Trump administration's decision as a “group madness” that requires quick and robust responses from around the world.
“They are making decisions,” he said.
Speaking of the national ocean and atmosphere scientists he worked closely at his past work, Baptist said, “These people are of extraordinary scientific quality, dealing with observations of the weather, climate and the earth. And what's the idea that they can't address these issues?”
Baptist is working with the president of a French university to come up with a government programme. He also promoted responses across Europe, including drafting letters signed by government ministers from 11 other countries.
More than 350 scientists have signed a petition published this week in the French newspaper Le Monde, asking the European Commission to establish an EUR 750 million emergency fund to accommodate thousands of researchers working in the United States.
European Commission spokesman Nika Blazevich said the meeting is planned to coordinate coordination to scientific research, the most effective response to the Trump administration's cuts.
In Brussels, two sister universities, Vrije Universiteit Brussel and Libre de Bruxelles University, said they are planning to sell to American students a program that offers 36 postdoctoral positions open to international researchers around the world.
The position, funded primarily by European Union money, focuses on research in climate, artificial intelligence, and other areas that schools consider socially important.
In the Netherlands, Minister of Education, Culture, and Science Eppo Bruins announced that they would like to establish a fund “in a very short term” to attract leading scientists in various fields. He did not directly mention Trump, but he hinted at it in a letter to the Dutch House. “The geopolitical climate is changing and is now increasing the international mobility of scientists,” he writes. “Several European countries are responding to this and are trying to attract international scientific talent. I want the Netherlands to be at the forefront.”
Ulrique Marmendier, a German economist who is a member of Germany's leading economic council, urged the European government to increase its investment in science and attract out-of-workplace researchers from the United States. “The development of the US is a great opportunity for Germany and Europe,” Malmendier, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, told the German Fanke Media Group. “I know a lot of people are thinking about leaving.”
Report contributed Jeanna Smialek From Brussels Claire Moses From London and Christopher F. Schuetze and Melissa Eddie From Berlin.
