US President Donald Trump’s research policy could bring a surge of top researchers to German science, according to Patrick Cramer, the president of the Max Planck Society (MPG), in an interview with the “Spiegel”. “The US is a new talent pool for us” he said.
The MPG received double the number of applications from the US for the leadership of research groups compared to the previous year, after the latest call for applications. The MPG plans to create additional group leader positions with additional funding, “to offer these people a perspective and at the same time to strengthen the Max Planck Society” Cramer said.
Trump is sending “signals of intimidation” to the scientific institutions of the country, Cramer stated. Many American colleagues are unsettled. “They fear that, above all, the research Trump wants to promote will be supported and researchers whose work does not fit into his worldview will have to reckon with cuts.” The climate and earth system research, gender research and research on infectious diseases are particularly under pressure.
The National Institutes of Health are currently not reviewing new grant applications and Trump is freezing and re-examining already approved funds. This is a clear violation of scientific freedom, as the theme selection belongs to the researchers, not the White House, Cramer told the “Spiegel”.
In the spring, the MPG president plans to travel to San Francisco, Los Angeles and Washington, where he will meet people from the US science community as well as many from the US politics. “What we need to do now is to keep talking to each other” he said. He will also address individual key figures who might be interested in a change to Germany in the current political climate. He cannot name them yet, but there are some, “who make my eyes sparkle.