Germany urged to poach US researchers unhappy with Trump

German economists called Tuesday for a recruitment drive to target US-based researchers dissatisfied with the policies of President Donald Trump, saying Europe’s top economy could benefit from a “brain gain”.

Writing in news outlet Der Spiegel, eight economists called on the German government to fund up to 100 professorships in the country for exceptional academics currently based in the United States.

Accusing the US government of undermining academic freedom, they pointed to funding cuts at Columbia and Johns Hopkins universities as well as “threats of student deportations”.

“Germany and Europe now have a chance to reverse the ‘brain drain’ and bring world-class researchers to their own institutions,” they said.

The authors, who include Moritz Schularick, head of the prominent Kiel Institute for the World Economy, suggested naming the recruitment drive after Lise Meitner and Albert Einstein, two German scientists who fled Germany in the 1930s.

“As the US academic system undergoes a turbulent transformation, Germany can offer stability, freedom and opportunity,” they said.

The United States’ “once unassailable reputation as a global hub for research and academic freedom is beginning to crack”, they added.

The Trump administration has in particular targeted institutions that saw massive protests sparked by Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, and hundreds of students have had their visas revoked due to involvement in pro-Palestinian demonstrations.

Officials initially put $400 million of funding at New York’s Columbia under review and detained a graduate student linked to pro-Palestinian protests, prompting the university to announce a package of concessions.

Johns Hopkins University meanwhile announced more than 2,000 layoffs after seeing more than $800 million in federal funding evaporate.

There have also been concerning signs for foreign academics seeking to visit the United States.

A French space scientist was deported as he sought to enter the country last month after border agents read the contents of his smartphone and accused him of “hateful” messages against US policy, according to French officials.

But US authorities denied he was refused entry due to his political views, saying he had confidential information from a nuclear research laboratory.