French university welcomes U.S. scientists ‘threatened’ by funding cuts

Demonstrators hold signs outside the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland, US, on March 3. Photographer: Daniel Heuer/Bloomberg (Daniel Heuer/Bloomberg)

A French university announced Wednesday it would welcome scientists from the United States working in areas threatened by funding cuts under President Donald Trump’s administration.

Mass firings and sweeping cuts overseen by Trump’s senior advisor Elon Musk in recent weeks have targeted research in a range of areas including climate and health.

In response, France’s Aix-Marseille University announced a new programme to welcome scientists who “may feel threatened or hindered” in the United States and want “to continue their work in an environment conducive to innovation, excellence and academic freedom”.

University president Eric Berton told AFPTV that he would have preferred to not to have had to issue this “recruitment call”.

“The risk these researchers face is that their projects will lose funding and that they themselves -- if they are foreigners -- will have to return to their home countries,” he said.

“It is a real danger,” he emphasised, particularly for academics who work on “sensitive subjects such as the climate, social sciences and the humanities in general”.

Hundreds of scientists and experts have been fired from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, a leading U.S. agency responsible for weather forecasting and climate analysis, Democratic Congressman Jared Huffman said last week.

Health and science programmes have also been targeted by billionaire Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency.

Berton said his university could not take in everyone, adding: “I hope we can launch a national movement.”

The university’s “Safe Place for Science” programme will provide 10 to 15 million euros (US$11 to 16 million) that can accommodate around 15 researchers over three years.

Aix-Marseille has previously brought in 25 scientists from Ukraine, Yemen, Afghanistan and the Palestinian territories under another programme for researchers under threat.

French scientists have called for rallies in support of “Stand Up for Science” protests planned in Washington DC and across the United States on Friday.

Asked about welcoming U.S. scientists, France’s higher education and research minister Philippe Baptiste said it was necessary to “strengthen” existing systems for international scientists.

“But this discussion must also take place at the European level,” he told the French parliament, lamenting budget cuts by the Trump administration that were “contrary to scientific consensus”.