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Just hours after opening its new program for American researchers called Safe Place For Science<\/a> in reaction to Trump administration policies, Aix Marseille University received its first application.<\/p>\n Since then, the university in the south of France known for its science programs, has received about a dozen applications per day from what the school considers \u201cscientific asylum\u201d seekers.<\/p>\n Other universities in France and elsewhere in Europe have also rushed to save American researchers fleeing drastic cuts to jobs and programs by the Trump administration, as well as perceived attacks on whole fields of research.<\/p>\n At stake are not just individual jobs, but the concept of free scientific inquiry, university presidents say. They are also rushing to fill huge holes in collective research caused by the cuts, particularly in areas targeted by the Trump administration, including studies of climate change, public health, environmental science, gender and diversity.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n If the movement becomes a trend, it could mean the reversal of the long-term brain drain that has seen generations of scientists move to the United States. And while at least some Europeans have noted that the changes in the United States provide a unique opportunity to build stronger European research centers, most academics say that competition is not the short-term motivation.<\/p>\n \u201cThis program is ultimately linked to indignation, to declare what is happening in the United States is not normal,\u201d said \u00c9ric Berton, president of Aix Marseille University, which has earmarked 15 million euros (nearly $16,300,000) for 15 three-year positions.<\/p>\n He said the number of openings \u201cwasn\u2019t much,\u201d but the goal was to \u201cgive them a little hope.\u201d<\/p>\n In France, Aix Marseille University is considered a leader in the push to bring in American researchers.<\/p>\n Since that program started, a cancer research foundation in Paris announced<\/a> it was immediately putting up 3.5 million euros to welcome American cancer researchers. And last week, two universities in Paris announced they were offering positions to American scientists whose work has been curtailed or halted by the Trump administration.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are researchers. We want to continue to work at the highest level in these fields that are being attacked in the United States,\u201d explained El Mouhoub Mouhoud, the president of Universit\u00e9 Paris Sciences et Lettres.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The university plans to welcome 15 researchers who are already working on shared projects in targeted areas including climate science, health, humanities and gender studies, said Mr. Mouhoud. As a result, the projects would continue unfettered and the American researchers could enjoy \u201cacademic freedom to do their research,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s good for everyone,\u201d Mr. Mouhoud said.<\/p>\n The alarms at European scientific institutions began sounding as the Trump administration started slashing jobs and freezing science grants as part of its broad cost-cutting measures.<\/p>\n Firings at U.S. centers deemed the pinnacle of science have been announced week after week including at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration<\/a>, the National Science Foundation<\/a>, the U.S. Geological Survey<\/a> and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.<\/a><\/p>\n The National Institutes of Health, the world\u2019s largest funder of biomedical research, fired 1,200 employees and put grant reviews on hold<\/a>, essentially turning off the tap of government funding for research projects in labs across the country.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The cuts come as some federal agencies have removed terms from websites and grant applications that are deemed unacceptable to the Trump administration<\/a>, which is seeking to purge the federal government of \u201cwoke\u201d initiatives. Among the terms considered taboo: \u201cclimate science,\u201d \u201cdiversity,\u201d and \u201cgender.\u201d<\/p>\n Taken together, the actions have sent a chill through academia and research institutes<\/a>, with scientists worried not just for their jobs but the long-term viability of their research.<\/p>\n \u201c<\/strong>What we see today is actually censorship, censorship of fundamental values ,\u201d said Yasmine Belkaid, president of the Pasteur Institute in Paris, who moved to France last year after 30 years in the United States, where she had led the National Institutes of Health\u2019s Center for Human Immunology. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe could lose a generation of science, a generation of scientists, something that we cannot recover from,\u201d she added. \u201cIt is our duty collectively to make sure that science on the whole is protected.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Philippe Baptiste, the French minister of higher education and research, has been among the most outspoken and active European leaders on the issue. Mr. Baptiste, who led the French National Center of Space Studies before joining the government, described the Trump administration\u2019s decisions as \u201ccollective madness\u201d that required a swift and robust response from around the world.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cThey are making decisions\u201d he said, \u201cthat call into question whole swathes of research not just in the United States, but the world because there are a huge number of programs that we do jointly with the United States \u2014 on earth observation, on climate, on ecology, on the environment, on health data, on space exploration. It\u2019s incalculable.\u201d<\/p>\n Speaking of scientists with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration with whom he worked closely in his past job, Mr. Baptiste said: \u201cThese people are of exceptional scientific quality, dealing with weather, climate and earth observation. And what\u2019s the idea? To say that we can no longer work on these issues?\u201d<\/p>\n Mr. Baptiste has been working with the presidents of French universities to come up with a government program. He has also pushed for a Europe-wide response, including drafting a letter, also signed by government ministers in 11 other European countries, which demands a coordinated effort and dedicated funding from the European Commission for startups, research and innovation.<\/p>\n More than 350 scientists signed a petition published<\/a> this week in the French newspaper Le Monde, similarly calling on the European Commission to set up an emergency fund of 750 million euros to accommodate thousands of researchers working in the United States.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n A European Commission spokesperson, Nika Blazevic, said a meeting was being planned to coordinate the most effective response to the Trump administration cuts to scientific research.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n In Brussels, two sister universities \u2014 Vrije Universiteit Brussel and Universit\u00e9 Libre de Bruxelles \u2014 said they planned to market to American students a program offering 36 postdoctoral positions open to international researchers from around the world.<\/p>\n The positions, largely funded by European Union money, will focus on research in climate, Artificial Intelligence, and other areas the schools view as socially important.<\/p>\n In the Netherlands, the minister of education, culture and science, Eppo Bruins, announced that he wanted to set up a fund \u201cin the very short term\u201d to attract leading scientists in a variety of fields. While he did not mention Mr. Trump directly, he hinted at it in a letter to the Dutch House of Representatives. \u201cThe geopolitical climate is changing, which is currently increasing the international mobility of scientists,\u201d he wrote. \u201cSeveral European countries are responding to this and are going to attract international scientific talent. I want the Netherlands to continue to be at the forefront.\u201d<\/p>\n Ulrike Malmendier, a German economist who is member of Germany\u2019s leading economic council, urged European governments to increase investment in science to attract out-of-work researchers from the United States. \u201cThe development in the U.S.A. is a huge opportunity for Germany and Europe,\u201d Ms. Malmendier, who is a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, told Germany\u2019s Funke media group<\/a>. \u201cI know that a lot of people are thinking about leaving,\u201d<\/p>\n Reporting was contributed by Jeanna Smialek from Brussels, Claire Moses from London, and Christopher F. Schuetze and Melissa Eddy from Berlin.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n