Fund on way in Republic of Ireland to attract US academics fleeing Trump pressure

[OnDoutside]

The Republic of Ireland hopes to entice academics as US becomes ‘a cold place for free thinkers’

Proposed scheme involves talent scouts offering attractive packages to tempt academics and lecturers from abroad

Ireland is to launch a scheme to poach academics and university lecturers from overseas on the basis that the Trump administration has made the US “a cold place for free thinkers and talented researchers”. The higher education minister, James Lawless, will on Tuesday seek cabinet approval for a “global talent initiative” to entice top international academics, including those seeking to leave the US or deterred from working there. The plan envisages deploying roving academic talent scouts who will offer potential recruits attractive packages, with the Irish government contributing up to half of the salaries offered by Ireland’s third-level institutions. The talent hunt will reportedly prioritise experts in renewable energy, food security, digital technology, artificial intelligence, semiconductors and healthcare.

As a precedent Lawless cited Ireland’s success in enticing Erwin Schrödinger to Dublin on the eve of the second world war. The Austrian physicist helped to set up the Dublin Institute of Advanced Studies (DIAS). The Irish scheme follows efforts by Belgium’s Vrije Universiteit Brussel, France’s Pasteur Institute and other European institutions to recruit US researchers by offering themselves as a haven for those keen to escape a White House crackdown on research and academia. In March the Netherlands said it planned to launch a fund to attract researchers.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/may/13/ireland-hopes-to-entice-academics-us-cold-place-for-free-thinkers

[Cha]

1. Brilliant.. Go Ireland!

Mahalo, OnDoubtside...

No Kings Hands Off! 💙

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