France's Aix-Marseille University, one of the country's largest academic institutions, has received eight researchers from the US who have been dubbed "scientific refugees." These scholars left the US due to significant cuts in research funding under the Trump administration. They are the first participants in the university's €15 million "Safe Place For Science" program launched in March.
The initiative aims to provide a welcoming environment for scholars facing challenges in their home countries, offering three-year funding packages for their research.
Over the coming months, the program is expected to host a total of 20 American researchers, whose fields of expertise span health, climate science, astrophysics, and the humanities. The program has already attracted nearly 300 applicants from prestigious institutions such as Stanford University, NASA, and the University of California, Berkeley.
Since US President Donald Trump took office in January, universities in the US have faced the threat of substantial federal funding cuts, putting many research projects at risk of closure. Some academics have expressed concerns over potential detention or deportation due to their political beliefs, prompting them to seek academic freedom abroad.
One anonymous scholar, who studies gender and human-induced climate change, explained that the US government's policies directly endangered her research. She also stated that moving to France was not just about professional freedom, but also for her children, who she doesn't want to grow up in a hostile environment. Another researcher said that people can stay in the US as a teacher, but as a researcher, the next four years will be a struggle.
The exodus of American academics has sparked concerns about the country's diminishing dominance in global research. A US scientist specializing in evolutionary biology revealed that most of her colleagues at a research institute in Wisconsin have already left, with many relocating to Canada and China. Similarly, a history professor commented that this wave of scientist migration signals "the end of America's global research leadership."
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