The exodus of American researchers, facing attacks from the Trump administration against universities and scientific research, continues – with some finding refuge in Spain. This is the case for 21 of them, out of the 37 applications selected in the latest round of the Atrae program launched in 2023 by the government of Pedro Sánchez, as reported by El País.
“Over the past three years, more than 254 researchers from around the world have applied for this program aimed at attracting internationally renowned researchers to Spain. Among them, 33.5% were based in the United States,” states the Madrid newspaper.
In 2023, no applications came from across the Atlantic. In 2024, 16% of the applicants were from the US. Last year, this proportion doubled, as a result of Donald Trump’s attempts to exert political control over research programs in the US.
Among the selected candidates, not all are of US nationality, but all were part of a laboratory based in the United States. And all now testify to the “very complicated” situation their colleagues still there are facing. “I have never seen this. I am very saddened for the researchers and students. They are very talented and are facing serious difficulties. The United States is taking a step backwards,” confirms 43-year-old Florida hydrologist Audrey Sawyer.
The Trump administration “systematically attacked science by reducing budgets and freezing funds and grants that support essential research in biomedicine, climate change, and space exploration,” El País reminds. This is in addition to the open war waged against certain universities.
Italian Vincenzo Calvanese is continuing his leukemia research. He spent ten years in the US, mostly at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), before trying his luck in 2024 during the Atrae program call for applications. He is now leading a new laboratory at the Josep Carreras Leukemia Research Institute (IJC) in Barcelona. “I personally contacted people in the US who might be interested in the Atrae grant. I explain to them that this is one of the few opportunities to ensure the future of research and obtain some job security,” he says.
Once again this year, each scientist selected under the Atrae program will receive an average of 1 million euros to establish their research team and create their own laboratory in Spain within a scientific institution or university.
