Thirteen European countries, including France, Germany, and Spain, have taken action to attract talents from the US.

The administration of President Donald Trump in the US states that billions of dollars in cuts are needed to reduce the federal deficit and control the country’s debt.

These cuts in research funding come at a time when Trump has criticized universities for being discriminatory due to their diversity policies.

Threats to the livelihoods of academics at universities like Yale, Columbia, and Johns Hopkins have given hope to Europe’s political leaders that they can attract an “intellectual windfall.”

A letter signed by 13 European countries, including France, Germany, and Spain, in March and reviewed by Reuters, calls on the EU Commission to act quickly to attract academic talents.

The European Research Council, an EU body that funds scientific research, stated to Reuters that it will double the relocation budget per applicant to 2 million euros to finance researchers moving to the EU. This budget aims to cover the costs of moving to a European institution, including setting up a laboratory.

As part of coalition talks for a new government in Germany, plans have been made to attract around a thousand researchers, as seen in negotiation documents from March reviewed by Reuters, between conservatives and Social Democrats.

Thirteen European universities and research institutes interviewed by Reuters reported an increase in the number of US-based employees considering crossing the Atlantic.