Institutions want to retrieve Dutch scientists from USA

This article was last updated on March 19, 2025

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Institutions want to retrieve Dutch scientists from USA

The Dutch Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) wants to set up a program with which Dutch scientists from the US can return to here. The NWO confirms this after reporting Het Financieele Dagblad. In the US, research institutes and universities are under pressure because President Trump wants to scrap billions in financing.

“Freedom of science is under enormous pressure in the US,” says NWO chairman Marcel Levi. “Many scientific subsidies are being blocked at the moment. Many scientists feel very uncomfortable in the US.”

In the first instance, the NWO only wants to focus on Dutch people in the US. “There are an incredible number of Dutch scientists there, there has been a brain drain from Europe to the US for years. And of course it is not at all easy for them to just come back, because there is enormous cuts at the universities. We think very carefully whether we cannot support them in some way, especially when it comes to top researchers.”

Financing

The NWO wants to quickly come up with a proposal about financing such a program, together with universities and colleges, among others. “We are in conversation with the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sciences to see if there are possibilities. And we also look closely in our own wallet and reserves.”

According to the FD, more scientific institutions are working on this. For example, NIAS research institute has opened the so -called Safe Haven Fellowship for scientists from the US. This is a fund with which normally scientists from conflict areas such as Gaza and Ukraine can continue their work in the Netherlands for a year. Eindhoven University of Technology is also considering recruiting people in the US.

In other European countries too, institutions want to attract scientists from America. For example, a university in Marseille in France started this month ‘Safe place for science’ program. “In a context in which some scientists in the US feel threatened or hindered, we welcome scientists to continue their work,” said the Aix-Marseille Université.