French President Emmanuel Macron invited researchers around the globe to come work in Europe or France, as U.S. President Donald Trump’s new government has begun cutting university and research institution funding. Macron did not mention the United States, where hundreds of researchers have been laid off in research cuts that come as part of a wider trend of Trump versus Ivy League universities.
“Here in France, science is a priority, innovation is a culture, research is an unlimited horizon. Scientists from the whole world, choose France, choose Europe!” Macron declared.
Trump’s cuts have resulted in hundreds of professors being fired, most at high-profile Ivy League institutions. Washington officials have tied the move to recent pro-Palestinian protests on campus, saying universities haven’t checked the spread of what they consider extremist ideologies. Officials from the Trump administration cite the upsurge of pro-Palestinian protests on campuses last year as justification for its insistence on universities doing more.
Yet, their critics contend such steps chip away at freedom of speech and intellectual independence, accusing the administration of targeting dissent for ideological motives. Threats to U.S. university professors’ incomes have filled European politicians with optimism that they would be able to harvest an intellectual bonanza.
France, taking the initiative, has introduced the “Choose France for Science” initiative through its National Research Agency (ANR). The program provides French universities and research institutions an opportunity to apply for co-financing to welcome displaced or mobile researchers. In a statement, the ANR reaffirmed France’s position in standing up for academic freedom and highlighted the current global environment as it was generating unprecedented mobility among scientists.
It went on to say that “the international context” was setting the stage for a never-before-seen wave of mobility among researchers from all over the world, and that France plans to position itself as a hospitable location for those who want to continue their work in Europe.
ANR added the platform will enable universities to submit proposals for hosting foreign researchers, particularly in domains such as health research, climate and biodiversity, artificial intelligence, space research, agriculture, low-carbon energy and digital systems.
The program will give priority to domains regarded as world-important, such as health, artificial intelligence, biodiversity, low-carbon energy, digital systems, and space exploration. Macron’s call is generally understood to be part of a larger European push to entice top scholarship, taking advantage of uncertainty within US higher education and re-establishing France as a world leader in research and innovation.
