France wants to attract foreign scientists in difficulty

Paris – Flagship of French research, the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) is launching a program to attract foreign scientists whose work is threatened, a movement encouraged by the executive.

Since Donald Trump’s return to the White House in January, researchers and universities have been under scrutiny from his government and are worried about their future, with academic and research freedoms undermined and funding cut.

The initial contacts reflect a “small momentum,” which concerns “the vast majority of non-Americans,” explains Antoine Petit, the CEO of CNRS, to AFP.

The organization, the largest in Europe in terms of research with 34,000 staff, welcomes “colleagues who are currently prevented from conducting research,” but also French expatriate researchers, some of whom “do not want to live and raise their children in Trump’s United States,” he says.

This initiative, called “Choose CNRS,” follows one initiated by the executive with the announcement in mid-April of a platform “Choose France for science.” (May 2, 2025)