EU tells US scientists to dump Trump for a lab in Europe
The European Commission (EC) is looking to make Europe the home of science by tempting researchers and scientists to relocate to the continent amid a more hostile stance toward academic freedom in the US.
At an event at Sorbonne University, EC President Ursula von der Leyen unveiled the “Choose Europe” scheme to promote the region as a world-leading center of research, innovation, and scientific freedom.
In a speech, she outlined financial incentives to draw scientific talent, including a €500 million ($566 million) package for 2025-2027 to make Europe “a magnet for researchers.”
“I am convinced that science remains the fuel of progress and growth for our societies. Without the ideas and breakthroughs that come from scientific research, progress sooner or later stagnates,” Von der Leyen stated.
“Unfortunately, as your discussions have shown today, the role of science in today’s world is questioned. The investment in fundamental, free, and open research is questioned. What a gigantic miscalculation. I believe that science holds the key to our future here in Europe. Without it, we simply cannot address today’s global challenges – from health to new tech, from climate to oceans.”
The EC President didn’t identify any particular culprit for undermining free and open research, but her comments come in the wake of the Trump administration making a number of cuts to scientific funding in the US, including to the NASA budget and the National Science Foundation, and specifically targeting diversity and equality efforts.
It also follows an earlier move by Aix-Marseille University in the south of France, which announced its Safe Place For Science program in March. This offered a “safe and stimulating environment” for researchers wishing to pursue their work free of persecution, and was explicitly pitched at American scientists who might be feeling unloved by their current government.
That invitation wasn’t a free-for-all. Offers were dependent on the candidate’s profile and only provide employment contracts and research budgets for up to three years. The Europe-wide offer will also likely require relevant qualifications.
Europe has everything that is needed for science to thrive, Von der Leyen said. There is stable and sustained investment, infrastructure, a commitment to open and collaborative science, plus access to quality education and healthcare.
She acknowledged there are areas where the EU needs to do better, with researchers often facing a mass of complex bureaucracy compared to some other parts of the world, for example, but said the Commission is ready to tackle this issue head-on.
“We want Europe to continue to be at the forefront of fundamental research. We want Europe to be a leader in priority technologies from AI to quantum, from space, semiconductors, and microelectronics to digital health, genomics, and biotechnology. We want scientists, researchers, academics, and highly skilled workers to choose Europe,” she said.
The top priority is to ensure that science in Europe remains open and free, the EC president said, hinting that freedom of scientific research could be enshrined by law in a new European Research Area Act.
The second element of Choose Europe is financing, and as well as the €500 million package for 2025-2027, the Commission aims to create a seven-year “super grant” under the European Research Council (ERC) to help offer longer-term support for the brightest boffins from around the world.
“We now want to support public and private institutions to better link up to highly skilled workers and researchers, and to speed up and simplify the entry for top researchers. Because bringing the best from across the world is about bringing out the best of Europe,” she stated.
According to Von der Leyen, the EC wants to see member states reach a target of 3 percent of GDP for investment in research and development by 2030, and said it is preparing ambitious proposals on funding for the next long-term budget.
She also mentioned in her speech a European Innovation Act and a Startup and Scaleup Strategy, to help minimize regulatory and other barriers, and make it easier for European startups to get access to venture capital.
According to the Associated Press, White House spokesperson Anna Kelly responded to the EU announcement by saying: “America will continue to attract and cultivate the best talent in science, research, and beyond.”
However, a poll of more than 1,200 US scientists by scientific journal Nature at the end of March found that three-quarters were considering leaving the country because of Trump, with Europe and Canada the top choices for relocation. ®
