Europe rushes to welcome US scientists fleeing trump crackdown: FT
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Cambridge University and other institutions are trying to seize the opportunity to recruit talents unsettled by US funding cuts.
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Students walk past the "Great Dome" atop Building 10 on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology campus, April 3, 2017, in Cambridge, Mass (AP)
European and international research institutions are in a race to recruit US-based scientists unsettled by the Donald Trump administration’s crackdown on research agencies, the Financial Times reported.
Cambridge University is among several top institutions aiming to attract experts in fields such as biomedicine and artificial intelligence, as Washington enforces significant funding cuts and suppresses certain areas of study.
Academics and institutional leaders from multiple European countries confirmed they had been approached by US researchers of varying seniority inquiring about potential opportunities abroad.
Deborah Prentice, vice-chancellor of Cambridge University, said, as quoted by the Financial Times, that the institution had "certainly begun organizing" efforts to secure talent, citing potential funding boosts for departments interested in recruiting researchers from the US.
On his part, Joanne Padron Carney, chief government relations officer at the American Association for the Advancement of Science, noted that nations like China and France were “gleefully” working to attract US researchers to their universities, laboratories, and industries.
“There are other countries that are recognising this is an opportunity they could use in their favour,” Carney stated.
Europe offers safe haven for US scientists amid research crackdown
Maria Leptin, president of the European Research Council, highlighted the growing anxiety among US researchers, explaining that the current political environment is “discouraging for independent investigator-driven research.” She emphasized that European research institutions were prepared to offer a refuge.
“What we can do is to make clear to our US-based colleagues that the European research community and its funders offer a welcome in Europe to those, regardless of nationality, who find their options for independent scientific work threatened,” Leptin stated.
Similarly, Sten Linnarsson, a dean at Sweden’s Karolinska Institute for biomedical research, said, as quoted by the Financial Times, that the organization was considering announcing job openings earlier and exploring ways to assist US researchers in need of a "bolt-hole".
Meanwhile, Global Times, a Chinese state-run newspaper, reported that the turbulence in US science has created an opportunity to attract researchers with ties to China.
The potential shift of scientific talent across the Atlantic was “on the radar” of top UK research institutions, according to Cambridge’s Prentice.
“Obviously it’s front of mind for me because many of my friends and former colleagues from the US are writing saying, ‘how do you get to Britain?’” said Prentice, a psychologist and former provost of Princeton University.
“For Cambridge,” she added, “it’s really about trying to make resources available for departments and units that have an opportunity to hire.”
In France, Minister for Higher Education and Research Philippe Baptiste has reached out to leading research institutions, urging them to submit proposals for priority areas where US-based scientific talent could be recruited.
“Many well-known researchers are already questioning their future in the US,” Baptiste wrote. “We would naturally wish to welcome a certain number of them.”
Additionally, Aix-Marseille University in southern France has introduced a program designed for US-based scientists who feel “threatened and hindered,” particularly due to funding cuts in fields such as climate change.
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