The trend seems to be confirmed: since the return of Donald Trump, the researchers, undermined, wish to leave the country. They could land in France.
Brain flight is becoming clearer. At the end of March, at the end of March, a survey of the Nature scientific journal revealed that an overwhelming majority of American researchers planned to go into exile. The reason? Massive budget cuts, cascade layoffs and political climate deemed hostile to research since Donald Trump’s return to the White House.
A few weeks later, the trend seems to be confirmed. According to a forum published by Liberation, nearly 300 American academics responded to the offer of the Aix-Marseille University, which offered to researchers based in the United States. A kind of “scientific asylum”, called “Safe Place for Science”.
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Researchers from NASA, Columbia, Yale and Stanford…
The university said it received 298 requests in one month, of which 242 were deemed eligible. The candidates come from institutions such as Johns Hopkins University, NASA, Columbia, Yale and Stanford…
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According to Eric Berton, its president, most of the requests were sent via encrypted messaging. “And with them arrived disturbing testimonies, sometimes swallowing, of American researchers on the fate reserved for them by the Trump administration,” he added in the gallery signed with François Hollande.
The candidates in question are experienced researchers in different fields: human sciences, life sciences, environment … just over half of the eligible candidates are American, while 45 have dual nationality. More than a dozen French citizens have also applied, as well as Europeans, Indian nationals and Brazilians. In the coming days, the selection process will start and should allow researchers to arrive in early June.
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Towards the creation of a status of “scientific refugee”?
In the gallery, the former President of the Republic and the President of the University also mention protection for scientists. “Current asylum mechanisms do not take into account the specificities of the university environment and the threats to scientists in authoritarian regimes”, they write. “This is why we form an urgent demand, adapted to the current situation: the creation of a status of” scientific refugee “.”
Remarks supported by a bill tabled in the National Assembly, in which he proposed that researchers victims of attacks on their academic freedom can benefit from subsidiary protection, a category reserved for asylum seekers who do not meet the conditions for granting refugee status, but which may demonstrate that they are confronted with serious threats.
This would allow faster and more effective treatment of these researchers, because civil servants could establish clear eligibility criteria and trace tracks to ensure that they are able to continue their research. “If they are interrupted, hampered, prevented, it will be a step back for humanity,” he concluded.
