"Choose Europe for Science": How France wants to welcome foreign researchers despite declining research funding

More than just an outstretched hand, Emmanuel Macron and Ursula von der Leyen are making a plea to American scientists, whose research is threatened by the arrival of Donald Trump at the White House . On Monday, May 5, the French head of state and the president of the European Commission will participate in the "Choose Europe for Science" conference in Paris, to convince them to settle on the old continent to carry out their scientific work.

At the end of the morning, the French head of state and the president of the Commission will close this conference at the Sorbonne "at a time when academic freedoms are experiencing a certain number of setbacks or threats, that Europe is a continent of attractiveness" , the Elysée had specified to the press, when announcing this conference, on April 18. On that date, Emmauel Macron had invited researchers "from all over the world" to "choose France" and Europe.

"Here in France, research is a priority, innovation a culture, science a limitless horizon."

Emmanuel Macron, President of the Republic

on the social network X

At the same time, the French government has launched a platform called "Choose France for Science", presented as "a first step in preparing to welcome international researchers" .

Health, climate, artificial intelligence... Emmanuel Macron and Ursula von der Leyen will face a major challenge: making France and the Old Continent more attractive to these foreign brains, while salaries and amounts devoted to research are still well below those of the United States. All this in a very difficult budgetary context, where leaders are on the lookout for savings to put public finances back in the black .

The salaries of these American researchers "will align with the French level. But those who come with their families will also take into account that school is free," believes Bertrand Jouvé, head of the "Toulouse Initiative for Research's Impact on Society," speaking to France 3 Occitanie . In addition, "the healthcare system is more advantageous than in the United States."

Since Donald Trump's return to the White House in January, researchers and universities have been in the crosshairs of the American government and fear for their future, amidst eroded academic freedom and funding cuts. As a result, more and more researchers and aspiring researchers are considering leaving the country, which has previously been considered a research haven in many fields.

Across France, research stakeholders did not wait for the head of state's call to prepare to welcome these researchers. Former President François Hollande, back in the National Assembly since the summer of 2024, tabled his first bill to create a "scientific refugee" status. "Just like journalists or political opponents, when they are hindered or censored, researchers must be able to be recognized as full-fledged refugees," writes the Corrèze MP in the explanatory statement for the proposal, reports LCP .

The Minister of Higher Education and Research, Philippe Baptiste, asked universities in early March to consider ways to accommodate them. The Toulouse university is currently recruiting 15 researchers. "We currently have 6 to 8 applications per week. (...) The majority are in the humanities field in the broadest sense. Then in health, space, and climate," explains Bertrand Jouvé.

In Bouches-du-Rhône, Aix-Marseille University had received "298 applications" by mid-April, including 242 eligible applications currently being analyzed. " Among these applications, we find 50% women and 50% men, a majority of 'experienced' profiles" in fields as varied as human sciences, the environment, mathematics, physics and computer science.

Universities weren't the only ones to react. The ARC Cancer Foundation, for example, announced the release of €3.5 million to accommodate researchers whose work was threatened in the United States.

"France must be a welcoming country for these researchers who might be forced to abandon their work."

Dominique Bazy, President of the ARC Foundation against Cancer

in a press release

"The ARC Foundation is responding to this emergency and taking its responsibilities by offering them the opportunity to continue their research in a stable environment," he further justified.

The French National Center for Scientific Research ( CNRS) also launched a program at the beginning of May to attract foreign scientists. The organization intends to recruit researchers of all ages and at all career levels, including "stars" of global research. Interviewed by AFP, Antoine Petit, its CEO, said he was convinced that "a researcher's motivation is never remuneration," but above all "the working environment, with its infrastructure, and the opportunity to compete with the best."

How can we attract this highly qualified workforce while maintaining a balanced budget? "France, which could appear to be a refuge, is in reality hit by budget cuts that have been accumulating for more than 20 years, threatening the viability of its own system," worries a collective Stand-Up for Science France, created at the beginning of March to show its support for their American colleagues. "Once inflation is taken into account, the latest budget for higher education and research has fallen by 1.5 billion euros, while 1.6 billion euros of credits have been cancelled for 2024 and 2025," the collective points out in an article published in the newspaper Libération .

"We can't even pay our own temporary staff, and we're trying to pretend that we're going to welcome American researchers in good conditions?"

Olivier Berné, astrophysicist at the CNRS, founder of the collective

on France 24

In his team alone, the scientist has "an engineer on a fixed-term contract for four years, without the slightest prospect of a job opening" and " 40% of contract workers" within his laboratory. More broadly, in the field of universe sciences at the CNRS, "around a quarter of researchers are precarious," notes Olivier Berné.

"The idea is not to replace anyone or take money from anyone, it will be extra money," a government source assured franceinfo at the end of April . When the "Choose for Europe" summit was announced in mid-April, an advisor to the president promised that "credits" and "amounts" would be announced, possibly in the form of tax incentives.