'The American system is being destroyed': academics on leaving US for 'scientific asylum' in France

Source: The Guardian

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

Almost 300 researchers have applied for for positions at Aix-Marseille University after Trump unleashed his attack on academia

Ashifa Kassam in Marseille
Sat 5 Jul 2025 14.00 BST
Last modified on Sat 5 Jul 2025 14.01 BST

It was on a US-bound flight in March, as Brian Sandberg stressed about whether he would be stopped at security, that the American historian knew the time had come for him to leave his home country.

For months, he had watched Donald Trump’s administration unleash a multipronged attack on academia – slashing funding, targeting international students and deeming certain fields and even keywords off limits. As his plane approached the US, it felt as though the battle had hit home, as Sandberg worried that he would face reprisals over comments he had made during his travels to the French media on the future of research in the US.

“It makes you think about what your status is as a researcher and the principle of academic freedom,” he said. “Things have really changed … The entire system of research and higher education in the United States is really under attack.”

Soon after, he became one of the nearly 300 researchers to apply for a French university’s groundbreaking offer of “scientific asylum”. Launched by Aix-Marseille University, the programme was among the first in Europe to offer reprieve to researchers reeling from the US crackdown on academia, promising three years of funding for about 20 researchers.

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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/education/2025/jul/05/academics-leaving-us-scientific-asylum-france-trump