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Since US President Donald Trump\u2019s return to office in January, academic research has seen several cuts that are causing \u201ca lot of concern\u201d and pushing some to consider relocating to Europe.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Trump has gone after Ivy League universities like Harvard<\/strong><\/a> and Columbia<\/strong><\/a> with threats of cutting several billion dollars in federal funding if they did not drop diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) measures and in Columbia\u2019s case, a perceived failure of addressing antisemitism on its campus.\u00a0<\/p>\n Trump has also axed research grants from the National Institute of Health (NIH), the nation\u2019s biggest fund for biomedical research, according to NPR<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Some European universities, such as France\u2019s Aix Marseille University<\/a>, Paris-Saclay<\/a> and Belgium\u2019s Vrije Universiteit Brussel<\/strong><\/a>,<\/strong> are putting aside extra funds for American researchers. But is it enough to entice them to bring their expertise to the EU?\u00a0<\/p>\n What are researchers looking for?<\/p>\n There is a close professional connection between researchers in the EU and the US, said\u00a0Reinhilde Veugelers, an economist and professor at the Belgian university KU Leuven.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are very closely connected to the US, so we know who are the top people in every field,\u201d she told Euronews Next.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThese kinds of networks that allow [universities] to do that effective screening so that you find the right people and \u2026 the best talents\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n There are, nonetheless, some challenges to recruiting researchers to the EU, Veugelers said.\u00a0<\/p>\n The salary is the major issue for young academics at public universities in Belgium.\u00a0<\/p>\n Federico Steinberg,\u00a0an economy and international trade senior analyst at the Elcano Royal Institute, said salary is the main draw for Europeans who previously moved to the US.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cSo traditionally you hear people saying that in the US, if you are in your 30s, 40s, the top of your productivity level, there are many more resources in the US,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cSo European academics might be tempted if there are good programmes that can be competitive in offering a good package with career prospects\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n Another factor that they look at is to go where the top researchers are in their field, and, historically, that has been either in the US or UK universities, Veugelers said.<\/p>\n \u201cThat means the type of institutions that will be able to recruit, certainly in the short term, will be really the top places in Europe, so the Cambridges, the Oxfords,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n Universities could consider sending their top researchers abroad to those prestigious universities and then \u201crecruit them back\u201d so there is an \u201cindirect access\u201d to the networks at those schools and they stay competitive, Veugelers said.<\/p>\n One of the main bodies that provides universities with funding for foreign researchers is the European Research Council (ERC), whosemandate is to \u201cencourage the highest quality research in Europe through competitive funding”.\u00a0<\/p>\n Veugelers said the ERC grants are \u201ca very good instrument\u201d to encourage American researchers to move because it is \u201cwell known\u201d among US academic circles.\u00a0<\/p>\n Ekaterina Zaharieva, the EU\u2019s minister for start-ups, research,\u00a0 and innovation, announced last month<\/a> that ERC grants would be doubled to 2 million per researcher after anopen letter<\/strong><\/a> from 13 governments asked her for a dedicated funding and immigration framework for top talent looking to relocate to the EU in light of the \u201ccurrent international crisis..<\/p>\n Another similar programme is from the Marie Sk\u0142odowska-Curie Actions, which offers fellowships of up to two years that support foreign researchers in Europe. In February, \u20ac354.6 million <\/a>in grants were awarded to over 1,500 researchers from outside Europe.<\/p>\n But, Veugelers said some of these individual funds should be directed to university offices instead of just individual researchers to help with recruitment.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI now hear a lot of rhetoric of\u00a0 \u2018let\u2019s give them a grant and they will come\u2019 [but] I think it needs more thinking structurally on how we can actually be the best place to attract the best talent,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n The new immigration pathway request sent in the letter to Zaharieva asked her to create a new immigration pathway for researchers coming to Europe. Steinberg believes this could be an incentive to keep Europeans and Americans.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201c[Universities] offer five-year contracts, and then after that, what?\u201cSo it\u2019s an issue of continuity and career prospects,” he said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n![\"Close](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/icon-cross-10x10-grey-6.svg.svg+xml\"){kind=icon}
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