European institutions are beginning to target “scientific asylum” seekers from the U.S., advertising jobs for those who fear funding cuts and ideological restrictions from the Trump administration.
President Trump has frozen large swaths of federal funding and ordered a halt to things that don’t comply with his political positions, including programs involving diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) research that focuses on the transgender community and climate change initiatives.
Universities and researchers are among those affected as federal grants are limited or withdrawn. Trump has also used federal research funds to target universities that he believes did not act harshly enough when responding to pro-Palestine protests on campus.
Significant government layoffs at agencies including NASA, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have also put scientists who relied on the stability of federal jobs on the hunt for new work.
Experts have warned that the reduced funding and limitations could create a brain drain and cause the U.S. to lose a generation of scientists and the work they would otherwise produce.
Vrije Universiteit Brussel, based in Belgium, is one university that has started to actively recruit American researchers, portraying itself as a safe haven. So is the Pasteur Institute in Paris, which is recruiting Americans in fields like infectious disease research.
The Netherlands announced on Thursday that it was launching a fund to attract researchers, which would be open to those of all nationalities.
Aix-Marseille University in France set up a program that will fund more than two dozen U.S. researchers for three years. The school said it has already had about 100 applicants, including scientists from Yale, Stanford and NASA.
