Europe Needs More Than Cash Incentives to Lure US Climate Scientists
It will take more than deep cuts in US government research spending and half a billion euros to convince some of the world’s brightest minds to settle on the other side of the Atlantic, experts say.
Members of a research team in Marseille, France.
Photographer: Jeremy Suyker/BloombergTakeaways NEW
Europe sees the string of funding freezes, canceled programs and general hostility toward science in the US under President Donald Trump as an opportunity to become the world’s top destination for research — but attracting top talent won’t be easy.
Earlier this week, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen launched a €500 million ($566.4 million) incentives package for 2025 to 2027 aimed at making Europe a “magnet for researchers,” at an event hosted by France’s Emmanuel Macron. The French president unveiled a further €100 million aimed at high-tech innovators.