France Lures US Scientists With Academic Freedom & €30M Funding

European Nations Compete to Attract Researchers Amidst Shifts in US Science Funding

Across Europe, governments are actively courting researchers, particularly those from the United States, with promises of stable funding and greater academic freedom. This surge in recruitment efforts comes as changes in US science policy, including funding cuts and increased federal control over universities, have led some American scientists to consider opportunities abroad.

France announced late last week it would be awarding funds to 46 scientists as part of its “Choose France for Science” initiative, with nearly all recipients previously working at US institutions. The program, launched last April, is providing over €30 million to support these researchers. This is just one component of a broader European Union initiative, “Choose Europe,” currently backed by nearly €900 million (US$1.1 billion) in research funding.

The French program will see 41 of the 46 recruits relocating from the United States. Eight of those researchers were affiliated with Columbia University in New York City, which recently experienced cuts and freezes to its research grants under the current US presidential administration. The university has since had most of those grants reinstated after agreeing to a settlement regarding campus antisemitism claims.

Among the award recipients is Zhongkai Tao, a mathematician who previously worked at the University of California, Berkeley. He will now conduct his research at the Institute of Advanced Scientific Studies (Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques, or IHES) in Paris. Astrophysicist Kartik Sheth, formerly associate chief scientist at NASA, was also selected. He was reportedly terminated from his position during mass layoffs last year and will take up a three-year position at Aix-Marseille University.

The shift in European policy reflects a growing concern over the state of scientific research in the US. Under the current administration, US researchers have faced grant cuts, the dismantling of science-funding agencies, and increased federal control over universities. US foreign aid and awards to international collaborators have also been terminated. When announcing the call for researchers last year, Élisabeth Borne, then French minister for higher education and research, stated that France would offer a “refuge” to researchers as “science and research face unprecedented threats worldwide.”

Sharon Milgram, who previously led early-career researcher training and education programs at the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) for nearly 20 years, suggests the high proportion of US scientists accepting these offers indicates a decline in “enthusiasm and morale for doing science” in the United States.

However, Milgram cautions that the relocation of a few dozen scientists is unlikely to significantly impact US academic institutions, which collectively employ over 1.5 million faculty members. She also points out that the funding available from organizations like the NIH, with their multibillion-dollar budgets, remains irreplaceable. She estimates that tens of thousands of scientists would need to relocate to have a substantial, long-term effect on US science.

Aix-Marseille University is also actively involved in attracting researchers, launching its own ‘Safe Place for Science’ initiative, worth approximately €15 million. The university stated the program was created “in a context where some scientists in the United States may feel threatened or hindered in their research.”

Alka Patel, a historian of art and architecture formerly at the University of California, Irvine, is among those heading to Aix-Marseille University.

Tao explained his decision to move to France was driven by the reputation of the IHES as a “world-leading institute of mathematics” and the strong mathematical community in Paris. “the Choose France funding shows that the French government supports researchers from all over the world,” he added. With the funding, Tao plans to establish a research group focused on uncertainty principles and geometric spectral theory.

Of the 46 award recipients, 19 are US nationals, 13 are French, and 8 originate from other European nations. The largest share of the funded researchers focus on climate, biodiversity, and sustainable societies, according to the French Ministry of Higher Education and Research. The ministry declined to publicly identify the 46 recipients, citing safety concerns.

Almost half of the awardees will be joining higher-education institutions in and around Paris, with 12 heading to Aix-Marseille University.