French President Emmanuel Macron and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen held a meeting in Paris to attract U.S.-based scholars and researchers based in the United States, following U.S. President Donald Trump's goal for the university.
The EU Union Commissioner announced on Monday that at the Selection European Science Conference, international scholars will be attracted to international scholars in order to attract international scholars.
The conference at the Sorbonne Paris targets scholars and researchers who fear their work will be threatened by billions of dollars in U.S. government spending cuts, as well as attacks on diversity policies and pro-Palestinian demonstrations in higher education institutions.
In the United States, pro-Palestinian foreign students have been arrested and sent to detention centers, often without due process, and universities are forced to punish professors against the Gaza war. The campaigners say the Trump administration's actions, including the revocation of permanent residency of students, have had a shocking impact on academic freedom - academic freedom - a cornerstone of the American education system.
Trump’s campaign against universities has led European political leaders to hope that they can gain the knowledge of a division of knowledge. The EU targets researchers working in health, climate, biodiversity, artificial intelligence and space, Macron's office said.
Von der Leyen said she hopes EU member states invest 3% of their total domestic products by 2030.
Under Trump, U.S. universities and research facilities are under increasing political pressure, including the threat of cutting federal funding. Trump prompted universities to punish pro-Palestinian protesters and ordered them to abandon diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) measures designed to provide better representation for ethnic minorities and poorly served communities.
Trump and his voter base accuse American universities of progressive ideology that transcends conservative values. They say universities fail to protect the civil rights of conservative and Jewish students.
On April 14, Harvard University rejected a series of demands from the Trump administration. Within a few hours, the U.S. Department of Education almost freezes $2.3 billion in federal government funding Ivy League institutions.
Last week, Trump updated his threat to Harvard's tax-free status, a move that could lead universities to billions of dollars in implementation. Harvard describes the president's move as "a leverage that controls academic decision-making." The University in Cambridge, Massachusetts sued the government.
On March 10, the Ministry of Education announced that it had sent letters to 60 higher education institutions and warned them if they did not protect Jewish students on campus as set out in Chapter 6 of the Civil Rights Act.
In February, the Trump administration froze $400 million in funding for Columbia University in New York City, the center of last year's protests against Israel's war against the Gaza. Some universities have also received a “stop work” order – calling for a moratorium on government-funded research projects.
Cornell University in Ithaca, New York said it has received more than 75 “stop work” orders from the U.S. Department of Defense, according to a statement issued by Cornell President Michael I Kotlikoff.
Elsewhere, hundreds of international students and recent graduates have been revoked for attending pro-Palestine demonstrations — some even arrested.
The Trump administration is also stepping up its attacks on the National Science Foundation, which fundes basic science, mathematics and engineering research, especially at universities and government agencies.
On May 2, the White House proposed a budget request to cut $4.7 billion, or more than half of the agency's $9 billion budget. It comes after two waves of grant cancellations in April and funding cuts from other public institutions.
Following Trump's actions, the EU hopes to provide a political haven for American scientists and scholars and “defend our (EU) strategic interests and promote the vision of universalism,” a Macron official told AFP.
The meeting in Paris on Monday is the latest push to open the door to European researchers to American researchers. In April, Macron called on American university staff to "choose France" and announced a plan of funding to cover the costs of bringing foreign scientists to the country.
Eric Berton, president of the University of AIX-Marderille in France, told the Guardian newspaper in the UK: "We are very indignant of what is going on, and we think our colleagues are going through a disaster. … We want to provide some kind of scientific shelter for scientific shelters for those hindered research."
The European Research Council, an EU body that fundes scientific work, told Reuters News Agency to double its relocation budget to fund researchers moving to the EU to every applicant of 2 million euros ($2.16 million).
The UK government is preparing similar initiatives. The program is designed to support research grants and cover relocation costs for select teams of scientists (mainly from the United States) and cover research grants and cover research grants, mainly from the United States.
In Germany, as part of the new government's coalition talks, conservatives and social-democrats have formulated plans to lure up to 1,000 researchers, according to negotiation documents in March, a turbulent Reuters hinted at in U.S. higher education.
"The U.S. government is currently using brute force on U.S. universities so that U.S. researchers are connecting with Europe," German vice-president Friedrich Merz said in April. "This is a huge opportunity for us."
Europe has lagged behind the United States in investment in higher education for decades.
According to the European Statistics Office, the total expenditure on research and development of enterprises, governments and universities in the EU is 381 billion euros (US$411 million) in 2023.
According to data from the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, the total research and development volume in the United States was US$940 billion in the same year.
The endowment value of Harvard, the richest university in the United States, is $53.2 billion, while the endowment fund in the United Kingdom (and the wealthiest Oxford University in Europe) is $10.74 billion.
"I don't want to build additional scientific capabilities quickly, which may match our decades now," Michael Oppenheimer, professor of geoscience and international affairs at Princeton University in New Jersey, recently told Reuters.
Some American scientists point to another drawback they consider - European language barriers and unfamiliar legal and employment practices. In addition, both research funding and researchers’ compensation are far behind the U.S. level.
The European choice of science activities in Europe is expected to address these concerns by considering lower costs of education, health care and more generous social welfare.
Aix-Marseille University in southern France said it has received interest from 120 researchers in the U.S., including NASA and Stanford University in California, in its 15 million euro ($17 million) "Safe Space" program launched on March 7.
The program is designed to attract our researchers, including health, medicine, epidemiology and climate change.
"Many well-known researchers are already questioning their future in the United States. We naturally want to welcome a certain number of them," Philippe Baptiste, the French Minister of Higher Education and Research, wrote in a letter to the French university in March.
Elsewhere, the Grantham Institute of London, specializing in climate change research, has created two scholarships for early career climate researchers from the United States and has seen an improvement in the application.
An official in Macron's office said Monday's meeting "is an attractive continent when academic freedom retreats and is threatened in many cases."
Nevertheless, Europe is not immune to controversy. Germany has been accused of silent pro-Palestinian voices, recently ordered the deportation of three European and American citizens.