‘The American system is being destroyed’: academics on leaving US for ‘scientific asylum’ in France

Almost 300 researchers have applied for for positions at Aix-Marseille University after Trump unleashed his attack on academia

It was on a US-bound flight in March, as Brian Sandberg stressed about whether he would be stopped at security, that the American historian knew the time had come for him to leave his home country.

For months, he had watched Donald Trump's administration unleash a multipronged attack on academia - slashing funding, targeting international students and deeming certain fields and even keywords off limits. As his plane approached the US, it felt as though the battle had hit home, as Sandberg worried that he would face reprisals over comments he had made during his travels to the French media on the future of research in the US.