European governments have sought to bolster their universities¡¯ efforts to recruit international researchers, amid signs that an expected exodus in US-based scholars is starting to begin.

On 23 April, Norway¡¯s education ministry announced the?, designed by the Research Council of Norway to ¡°make it easier to recruit experienced researchers from other countries¡±.

While the scheme will be open to researchers worldwide, the ministry said, research and higher education minister Sigrun Aasland suggested in a statement that the recruitment of US-based scholars was of particular interest.

¡°Academic freedom is under pressure in the US, and it is an unpredictable position for many researchers in what has been the world¡¯s leading knowledge nation for many decades,¡± Aasland said. ¡°We have had close dialogue with the Norwegian knowledge communities and my Nordic colleagues about developments.¡±

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¡°It has been important for me to find good measures that we can put in place quickly, and therefore I have tasked the Research Council with prioritising schemes that we can implement within a short time.¡±

The first call for proposals will open in May, Research Council chief executive Mari Sundli Tveit stated, with ¡°climate, health, energy and artificial intelligence¡± among the fields of interest.

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Last week, the French ministry of higher education and research launched the?, operated by the French National Research Agency (ANR). The platform will enable universities and research institutes to submit ¡°projects for hosting international researchers ready to come and settle in Europe¡± and apply for state co-funding.

Research projects on themes including health, climate and artificial intelligence may receive state funding of ¡°up to 50 per cent of the total amount of the project¡±, the ministry said.

¡°Around the world, science and research are facing unprecedented threats. In the face of these challenges, France must uphold its position by reaching out to researchers and offering them refuge,¡± education minister ?lisabeth Borne said.

The initiative follows efforts from individual French universities to recruit from the US: the University of Toulouse hopes to attract scholars working in the fields of ¡°living organisms and health, climate change [or] transport and energy, while Paris-Saclay University intends to ¡°launch PhD contracts and fund stays of various durations for American researchers¡±.

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Aix-Marseille University plans to host around 15 American academics through a ¡°Safe Place for Science¡± programme, announcing last week that almost 300 had applied. ¡°The majority are ¡®experienced¡¯ profiles from various universities/institutions of origin: Johns Hopkins, Nasa, University of Pennsylvania, Columbia, Yale, Stanford,¡± the university said.

In Spain, meanwhile, science minister Diana Morant announced the third round of the ATRAE international recruitment programme, with a budget of €135 million (?116 million), which will run from 2025 to 2027.

The scheme, designed to ¡°attract leading scientists to Spain in areas of research with a high social impact, such as climate change, AI and space technologies¡±, offers scholars an average of €1 million to conduct research at a Spanish institution. Successful applicants currently based in the US, meanwhile,?.

¡°We are not only a better country for science, for those researchers who currently reside in our country, but we are also a better country for elite researchers who seek out the productive scientific ecosystem we have in Spain,¡± Morant said.

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emily.dixon@timeshighereducation.com