Friday, French President Emmanuel Macron called for foreign researchers to work in France, with a clear intention of attracting American scientists affected by the reduction of federal spending of the Donald Trump administration in universities and research centers.
Macron wrote on the X platform, “researchers from around the world have chosen France, have chosen Europe”, without mentioning the name of the United States because hundreds of scientists have been separated in the reduction of research spending, in the light of a broader confrontation between Trump and the universities of the IVit.
This announcement one day comes after the declaration of officials according to which researchers fleeing Trump’s plans to reduce expenses will begin to work in a French university in June.
Trump administration officials said the wave of demonstrations supporting the Palestinians in universities encouraged them to submit requests to universities. However, the criticisms of these procedures by teachers and students say that these measures aim to suppress freedom of expression, and that universities should be a place of freedom of expression and academic thinking.
The threat to the functions of academics in American universities gives political leaders in Europe the hope that they will be able to reach intellectual gains.
On Friday, France launched the “Choosing France for science” platform, which allows universities and research organizations to request a joint funding from the government to accommodate researchers.
“France undertakes to fight against attacks against academic freedom from around the world,” said national France Research Agency, which manages this platform, in a press release.
She added that the “international context” prepares the conditions for an unprecedented wave of the researchers from around the world and that France intends to make a place that welcomes those who wish to continue their work in Europe.
The agency said that the platform will allow universities to provide projects to accommodate international researchers, in particular in fields that include health research, climate and biological diversity, artificial intelligence, space studies, farming, low energy and digital systems.