France, land of reception at Trump’s budget cuts

A bright future seemed to be emerging for Emma*. After several years of a journey strewn with challenges, this American researcher was to leave Texas to finally win the “job of her dreams” in a prestigious Californian university. As of January, Emma was expected to join the San Francisco team of the eminent teachers. They planned to integrate it into their research program concerning the impact of climate change on the appearance of new diseases.

But barely two months later, at the end of February, a cataclysm strikes the world of science. In the United States, the administration of Donald Trump announces drastic budget cuts in research programs. Certain subsidies have been brutally interrupted, on the basis of keywords now banned as “climate change”, “pollution” or “disability”.

Thirty clinical trials are frozen, including AIDS research in Africa. Tens of thousands of researchers and employees find themselves dismissed overnight, often informed by a simple lapidary email. NASA must separate from one of its chief scientists, while the NOAA, the American ocean and atmospheric observation agency, abandons 10 % of its workforce.

American researchers are looking for refuge in Europe

Suspended on her phone, Emma learns that her post will not see the light of day. “I am upset and I feel like I am facing the absurd,” she says. When I explain my work, everyone said to me: “We need you!”. But if we stop studying the climatic phenomena that promote epidemics, the health consequences may be disastrous! In search of alternatives, she has just recovered with a former colleague based in France. “Everything is still vague, but I seriously plan to look for a position in a French university,” says Texan.

In full debacle, more and more American researchers are looking for refuge in Europe, and France may well benefit from it. The stake is essential, because in the scientific galaxy, American and French researchers are leading partners. On both sides of the Atlantic, research organizations pool their databases and collaborate on more than 20,000 publications per year.

Unlock funds

Aware of the opportunity, the Ministry of Higher Education reacted quickly. On March 9, Philippe Baptiste sent a letter to research players to encourage them to offer reception solutions. The University of Aix-Marseille did not wait for the instructions. A few days earlier, she launched a program, entitled Safe Place for Science (refuge for science),, which offers fifteen places in its laboratories.

On the phone, the president of the university, Éric Berton, is surprised in front of his computer screen: “We have already received around fifty American applications for places in social sciences or even biology, and the figures swell every day. Among the first beneficiaries, Andrea, a specialist in infectious diseases, has already settled in Marseille. His three-year contract as a teacher-researcher provides him with a certain respite. To attract these talents, the university has released an envelope of 10 to 15 million euros, making it possible to finance wages -lower than those practiced in the United States -, but also research equipment.

To build alliances with their European counterparts

However, all French universities do not have such means. Higher education already suffers from budgetary restrictions and the 2025 finance law has just paid it a billion euros in grants. Even more worrying: 80 % of public universities are in deficit. That of Aix-Marseille has a hole of 15 million euros in its 2024 budget itself.

“The State pushes universities to find their own resources via calls for projects,” explains Caroline Mauriat, Cosecretaire General of the National Union of Higher Education. Aix-Marseille was able to finance its program thanks to one of these calls, but it is an isolated initiative. To date, there is no national framework to welcome these researchers. »»

Despite these constraints, things are moving. According to the France Universities Association, the Ministry of Higher Education is starting to consider a more ambitious financing plan. Certain universities, such as Côte d’Azur, in Nice, even think of establishing alliances with their European counterparts to strengthen the reception of researchers in exile. It remains to be seen whether this dynamic will be able to register over time or if it will remain a simple start against Hurricane Trump.

* The first name has been changed.