Germany aims to lure foreign scientists shunned by Trump’s America

By Oliver Towfigh Nia

BERLIN (AA) - The German government said on Thursday it plans to attract US-based foreign scientists and researchers with offers of grants and other incentives, seeking to profit from American President Donald Trump's federal funding cuts and clashes with top US universities.

"We need to think more creatively to be able to offer researchers and their families not just a job, but a home," the new Minister for Research, Technology and Space Dorothee Baer told the business daily Handelsblatt.

This includes, for example, a job for partners and daycare places – "ideally a complete, worry-free package," the minister added.​​​​​​​

Baer admitted that Germany will not be able to compete with top salaries in the US. However, she said that is not the decisive factor as her country offers "guaranteed academic freedom."

The minister announced that she intends to increase funding for the state-run Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and the German Research Foundation. This will create incentives through scholarships and research programs.

Meanwhile, Bavaria's Prime Minister Markus Soeder said he also wants to support students who will no longer be able to study at Harvard because of the dispute with the US government.

"All I can really say is: Please send everything to Germany, and if possible, to Bavaria," he told private broadcasters RTL and ntv.

He pointed out that Bavaria has the largest infrastructure for universities.

"We are happy to offer to create this so-called exile campus for Harvard in Bavaria immediately,” Soeder said.

US President Donald Trump signed a proclamation to restrict foreign student visas at Harvard University, the White House said Wednesday.

"Admission into the United States to attend, conduct research, or teach at our nation's institutions of higher education is a privilege granted by our government, not a guarantee. That privilege is necessarily tied to the host institution's compliance and commitment to following federal law.

"Harvard University has failed in this respect, among many others," it said.

New Harvard students cannot come into the US as a nonimmigrant under F, M or J visas, according to the proclamation.

It also directs Secretary of State Marco Rubio to "consider revoking" existing F, M or J visas for current Harvard students "who meet the Proclamation’s criteria."

Last month, the State Department instructed embassies and consulates worldwide to begin heightened vetting procedures for anyone seeking a visa to visit Harvard University.

The Trump administration has threatened to freeze federal funding for many universities, including Harvard, citing campus protests in support of Palestine and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs.

The administration has pulled $3 billion in funding and threatened to take away Harvard's tax-exempt status.

Last week, Trump said that Harvard University should cap its foreign student enrollment at about 15%.