Politico reports:

Donald Trump’s war on some of America’s most iconic colleges is a major opportunity for European academia and research.

Now the EU is under pressure to seize it.

University professors and research center directors across the continent see silver linings in the U.S. president’s crackdown on American higher education, which includes targeting professors and students as well as heralded Ivy League institutions like Harvard and Columbia while freezing billions of dollars in federal funding.

“This is the chance for Europe to start a new Enlightenment and create new partnerships around the world,” said Alain-Laurent Verbeke, a law professor at Belgium’s KU Leuven research university who has also taught at Harvard Law School since 2007.

European universities and top politicians have mobilized in response to Trump’s domestic measures, creating new initiatives aimed at attracting top foreign talent to Europe by offering generous grants and greater academic freedom.

Earlier this month, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and French President Emmanuel Macron unveiled a €500 million plan named “Choose Europe for Science” aiming to lure foreign researchers to the EU.

“We are doubling the potential amount that researchers who relocate to Europe from anywhere in the world can request as relocation funds,” said Maria Leptin, president of the European Research Council (ERC), the bloc’s public body for scientific and technological enquiry which is partnering with the Commission on the initiative. “We need to step up our efforts. And not because of what is happening in the U.S., we need to do it anyway.”

The Commission last month announced plans to accelerate visa procedures to attract U.S. researchers and EU research ministers met in Brussels on May 23 to discuss how to increase Europe’s competitiveness in science and innovation.

“Let’s use this momentum, and this opportunity, and attract the brightest and best talents of the world,” Commissioner for Startups, Research and Innovation Ekaterina Zaharieva said.

By massively boosting its research and academic development, the EU stands to strengthen its economic competitiveness and innovation, while putting itself in a better position to tackle critical challenges such as climate change and health care. [Continue reading…]