EU pledges €500 million for science amid US funding cuts
Brussels has announced a massive funding package to attract scientists to the Europea move comes as US research institutions face funding shortage.
Emmanuel Macron and EU’s Ursula Von der Leyen smile while walking to the podium with ‘Choose Europe for Science’ slogan behind them
Emmanuel Macron and Ursula Von der Leyen both spoke at the ‘Choose Europe for Science’ eventImage: Gonzalo Fuentes/AP Photo/picture alliance
Advertisement
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Monday announced a pledge of €500 million ($566 million) in research funding to tempt scientists to move to Europe.
The promise comes as US researchers face funding cuts under President Donald Trump’s administration. Several bloc members have already signaled desire to lure disgruntled academics to Europe.
What is the EU hoping to achieve?
“We want scientists, researchers, academics, and highly skilled workers to choose Europe,” von der Leyen told the “Choose Europe for Science” conference at Paris’s Sorbonne University.
“Europe has everything that is needed for science to thrive. We have the stable and sustained investment. We have the infrastructure. We have the commitment to open and collaborative research,” she added.
The new package, for the years 2025-27, was intended “to make Europe a magnet for researchers,” von der Leyen said.
US universities and research facilities have faced a ramping up of political and financial pressure under Trump, including threats of massive federal funding cuts.
While not mentioning Trump’s administration by name, von der Leyen said the undermining of free and open research was “a gigantic miscalculation.”
Von der Leyen used the example of the Sorbonne’s own renowned physicist and chemist Marie Curie, who was born in Poland — then occupied by Russia — but moved to France to study and pursue a career. In 1903, Curie became the first woman to win a Nobel Prize. She followed up her Nobel Prize for physics with a Nobel Prize for chemistry in 1911, and remains the only person to win two Nobel awards in different fields.
EU #pledges #€500 million #for science amid #US funding cuts
