Government pressed to attract US researchers hit by cuts

The Norwegian government is being pressured to take advantage of an expected exodus of researchers from the United States in the wake of President Donald Trump’s flurry of executive orders, which have thrown the US research ecosystem and academic freedom into chaos.

Trump is cutting 89 research projects worth US$881 million. The halting of the USAID programmes is also affecting universities and institutes internationally.

US scientists now are looking for opportunities to leave the US, SCIENCE reported last month.

Many scientists are saying that the Trump administration’s disruptive policies are weakening researchers’ resolve to stick to a career in science or forcing them to consider moving abroad, according to STAT+, the health and medicine publication.

Professor Svein Stølen, rector of the University of Oslo, told Khrono recently: “We are expecting a researcher exodus from the USA. The times are hard, but this will open up [the way] for Norway to attract researchers in several fields.

“We have to use this opportunity to attract some top researchers to Norway.”

In the Norwegian parliament on 21 February, Alfred Jens Bjørlo from the Liberal Party asked: “At the moment there is a significant reduction of academic freedom and a worsening of the prerequisites for doing research and higher education in the USA.

“Will the minister of research and higher education take immediate actions to make it possible for students and researchers from the USA to establish themselves in Norway by, among other things, removing the tuition fees for American students and securing a fast-track arrangement for researchers from the USA [who] are in need of residence and work permits at Norwegian universities and research institutions?”

The minister has yet to respond.

Elisabet Haugsbø, the president of Tekna, Norway’s largest association for employees and students in technological and scientific professions, which represents 110,000 natural scientists, technologists, and information technologists, told Khrono that she is worried about what is going on in the USA but urged Norwegian politicians to seize their chance now. She demanded a waiver of tuition fees for US students.

Tor Grande, rector of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), said that his university experienced researchers wanting to leave the USA during Donald Trump’s first presidency.

“It is serious when the top leaders in the country are questioning the role of the universities in the society. I am worried on behalf of colleagues in the USA and for what this might mean for international collaboration in science in the longer run,” Grande told Forskning.

He said that there is now an even greater interest in returning to Europe from European researchers based in the USA as well as American researchers considering moving abroad.

Grande said that these often are researchers who are well established in the USA with good working conditions.

He said that those responsible for recruitment at NTNU’s departments now should have their antennas activated towards their American networks.

“We know from experience that the Scandinavian countries are more attractive for researchers from other countries since we can offer a society with a high degree of trust and safety and with a great opportunity to combine family life with a career,” he told Khrono.

Unions demand quick action

Haugsbø said that the government now has to act quickly. “For Norway and the European Union, this is a great opportunity to attract American students and researchers that over time will give Europe a competitive edge in relation to the USA,” she noted.

She said that the elimination of the tuition fees for students from outside Europe is the main instrument for the opening up for US students to Norway.

One other instrument that should also be investigated is setting up a ‘fast track’ arrangement for researchers and earmarked grants for US students.

In a press release from the Norwegian Association of Lawyers, titled “Give American students and researchers a fast track to Norway”, President Sverre Bromander backs the Tekna president’s position.

“The Norwegian Association of Lawyers thinks that we should receive American students and researchers with open arms, which also will be a manifestation of how important academic freedom is for the liberal democracy.

“Maybe the most important resistance we now can make towards the destructive movements and tendencies we are seeing in the world is to keep open and comply with these rights, values, and principles we have built our society on,” he said.

Professor Ole Petter Ottersen, who has led two of the region’s most internationalised universities – the University of Oslo in Norway and the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, told University World News: “Removing tuition fees is a good idea and would serve two functions: it would be seen as a signal of solidarity with students that now face a difficult situation in the USA, and it would bring talents to our own universities.”

’Remove fees for all’

However, he said this should be seen as an opportunity to remove tuition fees for students from all third countries, including countries in the Global South.

“There are many countries in the world where students are exposed to infringements on academic freedom and to conflicts, wars, or political upheavals, and we sorely need the perspectives from these countries as well.

“So let us just accept the fact that the hastily introduced tuition fees were an ill-fated political decision that now should be rescinded,” he noted.

He likened the imposition of tuition fees to imposing tariffs. “It might provide short-term economic gains, but it neglects our global interconnectedness and interdependence and makes us all poorer in the long-term perspective.

“We should not only open for students but for researchers as well,” he said.

Deeply concerned

Kaja Ingdal Hovdenak, president of the National Union of Students in Norway, told University World News: “We are deeply concerned by the developments in the US and the growing pressure on academic freedom globally. The Norwegian government must play a more active role in ensuring better conditions for international education and research collaboration.”

Hovdenak said a key priority must be the removal of tuition fees for students from outside the EU-EEA, allowing students from the US to study for free in Norway.

“However, given that the challenges regarding academic freedom are not unique to the US, we believe tuition fees should be abolished for students from all countries – not just the US,” she said.

Muting voices

Ottersen said that he was very discouraged when visiting the USA in the week of Donald Trump’s inauguration as the 47th president.

“Never have I seen colleagues treading so carefully and muting their voices so consistently. Vice-President JD Vance apparently sees colleges and universities as ‘the enemy’, and the new administration seeks to root out terms like ‘gender’ and ‘diversity’ from university webpages.

“We do not know how things will develop, but when we now see how democratic institutions and norms are eroded, we should be reminded of the situation in the 1930s when scientists threatened by the rise of authoritarian regimes in Europe found refuge in Princeton, Columbia, and other universities in the USA.

“Fears that researchers and intellectuals will no longer see the USA as a safe haven should inspire us to welcome them here”, Ottersen said.

“The pressure on academic freedom globally is of great concern to us,” Guro Nore Fløgstad, chair of the Young Academy of Norway told University World News.

“The Norwegian government now has a unique opportunity to recruit international talent by removing fees for international students from outside EU-EEA and facilitating the recruitment process of researchers not only from the US but from the global research community as a whole.

“The recent developments underscore the need for governmental policies that value international cooperation, both for the sake of the exchange of ideas and for competitive advantage,” Fløgstad noted.