By Carole Tanzer Miller HealthDay Reporter<\/b>
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WEDNESDAY, May 7, 2025 (HealthDay News) \u2014 The European Union is looking to capitalize on the Trump administration’s dismantling of U.S. research programs to beef up its own.<\/p>\n
A $565 million program unveiled Monday aims to make “Europe a magnet for researchers,” Ursula von der Leyen<\/a>, president of the European Commission, said.<\/p>\n “Unfortunately, we see that the role of science in today’s world is questioned, the investment in fundamental, free, and open research is questioned,” she said in announcing the initiative. “What a gigantic miscalculation.”<\/p>\n The 500\u20ac initiative, which STAT News<\/em> reported will last through 2027, would support researchers not only from Europe itself but also around the world. It will underwrite new, long-term grants and support researchers who move to Europe.<\/p>\n Appearing at Paris’ Sorbonne University with French President Emmanuel Macron<\/a>, von der Leyen said science plays a crucial role in linking people and creating a shared future in a fractured world.<\/p>\n “We can all agree that science has no passport, no gender, no ethnicity, no political party,” she said.<\/p>\n She and Macron both took swipes at Trump administration moves to slash funding for research and to target studies focused on health equity and diversity, among others, STAT News <\/em>reported.<\/p>\n Macron said no one could have imagined that a major democracy would scuttle research programs based on their focus on diversity, particularly a country “whose economic model is so dependent on science and innovation.”<\/p>\n Countries around the world rely on investments in science to stimulate their economies. Many have been trying to make themselves more appealing to researchers and firms that finance development.<\/p>\n But competing with the U.S., long the pinnacle of scientific research, has been a challenge.<\/p>\n Since Trump returned to the White House, however, other countries have recognized the U.S. pull back from research as a chance to stop the exodus of their own scientists and recruit new ones.<\/p>\n Norway launched a $9.5 million recruitment program and France’s Aix-Marseille University aims to raise about $17 million. Some European universities have also upped their recruitment efforts.<\/p>\n While funding levels vary from country to country, Europe as a whole has long missed its target of spending 3% of its gross domestic product on research, STAT News<\/em> reported.<\/p>\n The aim now, von der Leyen said, is to hit that target in five years. She also unveiled a pilot program to support early-career researchers.<\/p>\n Wooing U.S. researchers has been a perennial challenge.<\/p>\n What job opportunities there are usually come with smaller paychecks than in the U.S. The new funding aims to make the E.U. more appealing to disenchanted or unfunded U.S. scientists.<\/p>\n “We are choosing to be the continent where innovation serves humanity, where global talent is welcomed,” von der Leyen said, adding: “Progress thrives on freedom, openness and collaboration.”<\/p>\n More information<\/strong><\/p>\n There’s more about federal funding for scientific research at the National Institutes of Health<\/a>.<\/p>\n