‘The American system is being destroyed’: academics on leaving US for ‘scientific asylum’ in France | Academics

Since Brian Sandberg stressed whether it would be stopped in security, the American historian knows that it was time to leave his own country, and in March, in March.

For months, he watched Donald Trump’s administration opened a multi -faceted attack on the academy – reduced financing, targeted international students and limited certain areas and even keywords. As his plane approached the US, Sandberg felt as if he was worried that he would face retaliation on his comments during his travels to the French media on the future of the US research.

“As a researcher, it enables you to consider what your situation is and the principle of academic freedom,” he said. “Things really changed… All the research and higher education system in the United States is really under attack.”

Shortly after, it became one of the approximately 300 researchers who applied to a French University’s groundbreaking “scientific asylum” proposal. The program, which was initiated by the University of Aix-Marseille, was among the first people who promised researchers who filtered from the pressure of the US on the academy in Europe for about 20 researchers.

Last week, Sandberg appeared as one of the 39 researchers on the short list for the program. “The American system is being destroyed right now,” he said to 80 journalists who appeared to meet the candidates. “I think many people in the United States and Europe did not understand the level in which all higher learning was targeted.”

When reports for freezing, interruptions and executive orders aiming to target institutions throughout the Atlantic, institutions in Europe He took actionTo announce plans to attract US -based academics.

At the University of Aix-Marseille, hundreds of applications from researchers affiliated to the University of Johns Hopkins, NASA, Columbia, Yale and Stanford received hundreds of applications. Three months after starting his programs for science, the university said that he had received more than 500 investigations.

Éric Berton, the president of the university, said that the world’s “historical” moment is a eye. “More than 80 years ago, France welcomed the exile researchers, presented them to help, and allowed them to keep science alive,” he said. “And now, when history is sadly reversed, some American scientists came to France in search of a space for freedom, thought and research.”

Last week, the university opened its doors and allowed journalists to welcome a handful of Americans in the last run to participate in the program. As they played high -profile wars between universities such as Harvard and the White House, they all wanted their institutions not to be named and said that their employers may face retaliation.

Some refused to talk to the media, while others asked not to use full names, and the Trump administration offers a clue that the actions of the administration added anxiety among academics. “Concern, we have seen that scientists were detained at the border. It was accepted that they were not a US citizen, but now if you talk to the government, they say they will deport you. “And that’s why I don’t need anything against me until I’m moved here with my family right now.”

Together, as the researchers spent the US government research grants and eliminating federal institutions that manage and distribute financing, they drew a picture of a profession immersed in uncertainty. For months, Trump’s second presidency is turning to the academy as he tries to take root everything he sees as “alertness önce from the world after secondary school.

“Now there’s a lot of censors, crazy, Car said Carol Lee, an evolutionary biologist. Terms List Now the research is deported in grant practices. “There are many words that we are not allowed to use. Diversity, women, we are not allowed to use the words LGBTQ.”

Although the speed of rapid change remained nervous about what might be in front of us, many of them did not get any chance. “People are definitely moving, Lee Lee said. “The best person has already moved to China. And China reveals the red carpet. If people receive an offer from Canada, people are moving to Canada.”

For Biological Anthropologist Lisa, the reality of dismantling his life in the United States and starting to sink the two children in a teacher and Atlantic, “excitement, but annoying,” he said.

He knew he had to go out when it was understood that Trump had won a second period. Months later, he found a potential way to do so, but still surrounds everything in the program of the University of Aix-Marseille.

“This is a big wage cut,” he said. “My children are super Gung-ho. My husband is worried that he will not only find a job. This is my concern, because I don’t think I can welcome four people with my salary.”

But for him and for a few people on the short list, there were several other options. James, a climatic researcher who wants his full name not to be used, said, “It is a very courageous time to be a scientist,” he said. “I feel that America is always a kind of anti-intellectual tension-it is a relatively small ratio that does not trust scientists, but unfortunately a very strong segment.”

His wife was on the short list for the same program in Southern France, and the couple left their lives and careers on the verge of dismantling decades and careers in the United States. “I have very mixed feelings,” he said. “I am very grateful to have the opportunity, but it’s really sad to need the opportunity.”