PARIS: French President Emmanuel Macron and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen host a Paris conference Monday to attract US researchers ready to relocate because of President Donald Trump\u2019s policies.
\nEU commissioners, scientists and ministers for research from member countries will discuss, among other things, financial incentives at the gathering to lure disgruntled American scientists across the Atlantic.
\nParis\u2019s Sorbonne university is hosting the conference, called \u201cChoose Europe for Science,\u201d which is to close with speeches by Macron and von der Leyen.<\/p>\n
Under Trump, universities and research facilities in the United States have come under increasing political and financial pressure, including from threats of massive federal funding cuts.
\nResearch programs face closure, tens of thousands of federal workers have been fired, while foreign students fear possible deportation for their political views.
\nThe European Union hopes to offer an alternative for researchers and, by the same token, \u201cdefend our strategic interests and promote a universalist vision,\u201d an official in Macron\u2019s office told AFP.
\nThe French president had already last month appealed to foreign, notably US, researchers to \u201cchoose France\u201d and unveiled plans for a funding program to help universities and other research bodies cover the cost of bringing foreign scientists to France.<\/p>\n
Shortly before, Aix Marseille University in the south of the country said its \u201cSafe Place for Science\u201d scheme received a flood of applicants after announcing in March it would open its doors to US scientists threatened by cuts.<\/p>\n
Last week, France\u2019s flagship scientific research center CNRS launched a new initiative aimed at attracting foreign researchers whose work is threatened and French researchers working abroad, some of whom \u201cdon\u2019t want to live and raise their children in Trump\u2019s United States,\u201d according to CNRS President Antoine Petit.
\nAn official in Macron\u2019s office said Monday\u2019s conference comes \u201cat a time when academic freedoms are retreating and under threat in a number of cases and Europe is a continent of attractiveness.\u201d
\nExperts say, however, that while EU countries can offer competitive research infrastructure and a high quality of life, research funding and researchers\u2019 remuneration both lag far behind US levels.
\nBut CNRS\u2019s Petit said last week he hoped that the pay gap will seem less significant once the lower cost of education and health, and more generous social benefits are taken into account.
\nMacron\u2019s office said France and the EU are targeting researchers in a number of specific sectors, including health, climate, biodiversity, artificial intelligence and space.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
PARIS: French President Emmanuel Macron and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen host a Paris conference Monday to attract US researchers ready to relocate because of President Donald Trump\u2019s policies. EU commissioners, scientists and ministers for research from member countries will discuss, among other things, financial incentives at the gathering to lure disgruntled American […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":476518,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-476508","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n