(Editor’s note: This post on Europe recruiting American scientists and researchers is part of Dispatches’ Tech Tuesday series. It will be updated as more programs and initiatives come online.)
Winston Churchill said it best … never let a good crisis go to waste. We’re not bragging or anything, but when Trump 2.0 started, we told you this was the moment Europe should start recruiting American talent, from medical researchers to engineers to the quants and mathematicians.
When Trump was reelected president of the United States this past November we wrote:
The increasing political and economic instability sure to follow will make top American tech talent and entrepreneurs more open to overtures from companies such as ASML and NXP, who struggle to find great engineers and physicists as Europe ages and retires.
We’re sticking to that. But the first people targeted by Trump 2.0 are researchers and scientists at universities and foundations as the administration cuts billions in federal research funding and higher education. The administration is at war with Harvard and other universities. The excuse is waste, fraud and abuse, but make no mistake: this is about politics. Trump is anti-science, bringing into his cabinet anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist Robert Kennedy, Jr. and making him secretary of Health and Human Services. Vice President JD Vance, a Yale Law grad, praises Viktor Orban for aggressively using funding cuts to stamp out certain curricula and rein in “left wing domination” of universities.
American in 2025 is not a place you want to be a scientist. A March poll of more than 1,200 US scientists by scientific journal Nature found that three-quarters were considering leaving the country because of Trump, with Europe and Canada the top choices for relocation.
The Trump administration’s assault on funding for higher education poses a bigger threat to Boston and the surrounding region than perhaps anywhere else in the country, according to the New York Times. Boston has the densest collection of scientists and researchers with advanced degrees in the U.S.
Harvard alone is facing a government review of $9 billion in federal grants and contracts, several universities are freezing hiring and rescinding admissions offers, research labs are closing and international students are being targeted for deportation, according to the Times.
That’s already causing fallout. Director of France’s Pasteur public health institute, Yasmine Belkaid, said she gets “calls every day” from U.S.-based European and American scientists looking for jobs, according to multiple media reports.
In just a few weeks – lightning speed for Europeans – there already are multiple initiatives in place to recruit U.S. talent. And these initiatives include visas and money to entice Americans.
But the truth is, there are a lot of reasons for Americans to skip Europe. Most glaringly, remuneration in Europe is at least 10 percent less than in the U.S., and the cost of living higher in advanced countries such as Switzerland. The funding just isn’t there as the U.S. spends almost twice as much on R&D as the EU.
That said, a group of European countries is devising a strategy to change that and poach top American researchers.
There are several programs up and going, or coming on-line:
Europe
• Choose Europe
The European Commission launched Choose Europe in May, funded to the tune of 500 million euros through 2027. The Choose Europe website includes a jobs portal and links to apply for funding and grants good for up to three years. The initiative includes a link to information on “the practicalities of coming to Europe, including visa and entry conditions, residence permits, short-term stays, hosting, and EU and national rules.”
There’s also a link to info on work permits, taxation and salaries, recognition of diplomas, intellectual property rights and career development.
This program is aimed at post-docs and senior researchers kicked to the curb after Trump 2.0 funding cuts. The funding is in addition to the 93.5 billion euro Horizon Europe international research program.
• More funding
European Commissioner for Startups, Research and Innovation Ekaterina Zaharieva told EU lawmakers the Commission is working on a special visa for top talent as well as a system to help governments and universities in the bloc pool resources to attract American scholars. This includes quickly increasing the financial support offered by the European Research Council (ERC), the bloc’s public body for scientific and technological enquiry.
Currently, researchers based in the U.S. who relocate to Europe can apply for 1 million euros beyond the usual maximum grant amount, which will be increased to 2 million euros. That means, in total, these researchers could be eligible for grants of up to 4.5 million euros.
Belgium
• Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) has created funding and a contact point for outstanding scholars looking to relocate to Brussels, according the VUB website. VUB is targeting “excellent researchers currently working in the U.S. which see their line of research threatened.”
VUB has a dedicated contact point (research.welcome@vub.be) where American researchers can get information about research programs, visa applications and life and work in Brussels.
• Université Libre de Bruxelles has 12 post-doc positions dedicated to Americans fleeing Trump. You can see the details here in French.
See more here in our archives about living and working in Brussels.
Denmark
Danish Chamber of Commerce and the society of engineers are asking to fast-track 200 positions for American researchers over the next three years. There’s no information about funding, yet.
Finland
“Work in Finland” has a roundup of all the info you need to work and live in the World’s Happiest Country. That includes visa information and a handy list of 539 jobs for English speakers. Almost all the jobs are for top engineers and researchers.
France
• France launched its Choose France for Science initiative in April, preparing for “an unprecedented wave of mobility among researchers around the world.” Wink, wink.
The digital platform allows universities and research performing organisations to submit projects to host international researchers, specifically in the following areas: Digital components, systems, and infrastructure; Health research; climate, biodiversity, and sustainable societies; digital technology and AI; space studies; agriculture, sustainable food, forests, and natural resources and low-carbon energy.
You can get more information on submitting proposals here.
• Aix Marseille University has a new “Safe Place for Science” program. The AMU website states at a time when “some scientists in the United States may feel threatened or hindered in their research, our university is announcing the launch of the Safe Place for Science program, dedicated to welcoming scientists wishing to pursue their work in an environment conducive to innovation, excellence and academic freedom.”
The goal is to raise up to 15 million euros (about $16.3 million) for 15 three-year positions working with local institutions, according to Eric Berton, president of Aix Marseille. The first tranche of 3.5 million for cancer researchers has been deployed. However, bookmark the Safe Place site for future application opportunities.
• Université Paris Sciences et Lettres will accept 15 researchers who are already working on shared projects in targeted areas, including climate science, health, humanities and gender studies, according to the New York Times.
• Université Paris-Saclay is recruiting Americans – from doctoral students to junior professorships and research chairs – and opening some new positions to meet increased U.S. demand. Its Alembert research chairs are open to all nationalities, offering stays of six to 12 months to high-level researchers. The university has opened five new positions specifically for U.S. researchers who are no longer able to carry out their work, promising a website to list all the opportunities to prospective American partners.
Netherlands
Education Minister Eppo Bruins (New Social Contract Party) announced the creation of a fund to attract leading international scientists, urging swift action to ensure the Netherlands becomes “a destination of choice. This is still in the planning stage, but the aim is to “ensure that scientists have the resources to live and work in the Netherlands and continue their research at a Dutch knowledge institution,” according to the official Dutch website.
The goal is to get outstanding international scientists in the Netherlands ASAP. The website stresses the international aspect, but you don’t have to work too hard to see the timing on this – 20 March – coincides with a lot of the Trump funding cuts.
Norway
Norway
The Norwegian government and the Research Council of Norway is offering 100 million kroner, or $9.6 million, to fund experienced American and other international researchers next year. The council is putting out a call for proposals this month including in the areas of climate, health, energy and artificial intelligence.
Spain
Diana Morant, the minister of science, innovation and universities in Spain, said the Spanish government is budgeting an additional 45 million euros to lure scientists “despised or undervalued by the Trump administration,” according to the New York Times. The program offers American researchers an extra $200,000 grant on top of a million-dollar package normally offered.
Catalonia, Spain’s prosperous northeastern region, announced a $34 million program to attract American researchers. Twelve universities will sponsor 78 “high quality” scientists in total from the US during the next three years, according to the Times.
Sweden
We get fed ads for “Move to Gothenburg,” the Swedish second city’s initiative to attract tech talent. The website is pretty complete, with info on salaries, taxes and, of course, career opportunities.
- Find a job in the Gothenburg region
- Join our talent pool
- International House Gothenburg
- Careers at our partners
- AstraZeneca
- Aurobay
- Chalmers University of Technology
- SKF
- University of Gothenburg
- Västra Götalandsregionen
- Volvo Group
- Zeekr Technology Europe
United Kingdom
The UK government is preparing to launch a 50 million pound scheme to woo international research talent to Britain in the wake of US President Donald Trump’s crackdown on academic freedom in America, according to the Financial Times. The grant includes research funds and relocation.
The UK initiative will assess researchers on their output and how their work fits with priority areas in the UK industrial strategy, including life sciences, artificial intelligence and green energy, according to the post.
They say history doesn’t repeat itself, but it sure does rhyme. There are echoes in Trump 2.0 of Italy’s and Germany’s 1930s restrictions on academics and scientists that forced them to flee to the U.S. and other countries.
Dispatches was founded on the concept of the global mobility of talent. Or, as we like to say, when the going gets tough, the tough get going to the airport.
Co-CEO of Dispatches Europe. A former military reporter, I'm a serial expat who has lived in France, Turkey, Germany and the Netherlands.
