Amidst growing political interference and funding cutbacks in the US, many researchers are looking for a way out – and Spain is rolling out the red carpet.
With its newly expanded ATRAE programme, the country is offering generous funding, state-of-the-art infrastructure, and long-term support to attract international scientific talent – especially those now questioning their prospects under the current U.S. administration.
The ATRAE initiative was launched in 2021 to recruit researchers who rank among the top 10pc in their fields globally. It has a current budget of €135m, of which €45m is to be disbursed in this round of funding, a 50pc increase on the amount released in the previous round. Public research centres, universities, health institutions and other R&D bodies across Spain can apply to host the scientists.
According to the Minister of Science, Innovation and Universities, Diana Morant, this increase has “a very special focus on researchers in the United States who are being undervalued by [Donald Trump’s] administration”. While open to applicants from anywhere in the world, scientists from the US who are selected for the programme will receive additional funding of €200,000 for each project.
The previous two rounds of ATRAE attracted 58 researchers from 14 different countries, with nearly 15pc coming from the US.
Why Spain Is Winning Over Global Researchers
Spain is well placed to capture foreign talent having positioned itself as a leader in life sciences in Europe over the past decade. Generous tax breaks and a relatively speedy regulatory process have turned it into a hotspot for clinical trials, with Madrid offering tax credits of about 33pc for large companies’ R&D spending, more than double the European average.
Other sweeteners include the ‘Beckham law’, under which foreign workers are subject to a lower tax rate for a fixed period.
The time from submitting approval documentation to potentially treating the first patient is just 3-4 months in Spain, compared to at least 6 months elsewhere.
This efficiency, combined with the cost-effectiveness of conducting clinical research in Spain, has made it one of the most attractive countries in Europe for pharmaceutical investments.
Major pharma companies such as AstraZeneca, Novartis, and Roche have expanded their presence in the country in recent years. AstraZeneca, for instance, chose Barcelona to establish a new research hub in 2023, initially pledging €800m and 1,000 new roles between 2023 and 2027. After quickly meeting this hiring target, AstraZeneca doubled its goal, increasing funding to €1.3bn and aiming for 2,000 hires.
The Spanish government has played a pivotal role in facilitating this growth by fostering partnerships with hospitals, start-ups and scientists. Officials in Barcelona have gone the extra mile to support new employees, helping them access healthcare, housing and driving licences.
In tandem with the national ATRAE programme led by Madrid, the Catalan regional government has launched its own recruitment drive. The €30m investment, in partnership with 12 public universities, will fund 78 positions in existing programmes to attract senior researchers, university lecturers and PhD candidates.
“In Catalonia, we want to offer opportunities to researchers who today may see their academic freedom and professional future under threat in the United States,” said Salvador Illa, the head of the Catalan government at an event in Barcelona. “The message is clear: if someone feels they are not allowed to develop their talent, they can come to Catalonia.”
Turmoil Under Trump
These Spanish initiatives come as many US-based scientists are expressing alarm at increasing governmental interference in their work.
A recent poll by Nature revealed that 75pc of American scientists surveyed were considering leaving the country. Meanwhile, a letter signed by nearly 2,000 scientists warned that “the nation’s scientific enterprise is being decimated”. This surge in discontent follows a series of executive orders from the Trump administration aimed at restricting diversity and inclusion programmes and curbing federal spending on projects deemed ideologically undesirable.
At the National Institutes of Health, internal advisory committees have been blocked from meeting, paralysing decision-making on critical research grants. Meanwhile, staff at the National Science Foundation were reportedly ordered to audit thousands of ongoing projects, searching for terms such as ‘women’ and ‘diverse’ to see if their use falls afoul of the new directives.
EU Gets In On The Act
Spain isn’t the only European nation hoping to capitalise on the academic disgruntlement stateside. On Wednesday, 13 European countries sent a joint petition to European commissioner for research and innovation, Ekaterina Zaharieva, urging the EU to do more to welcome in foreign researchers – particularly those leaving the US.
Aix-Marseille University in France recently launched its ‘Safe Place for Science’ programme, aiming to raise €15m to offer long-term contracts to some 15 scientists. This comes amid outrage in France following the detention and expulsion from the US of a French researcher found to have anti-Trump messages on his phone.
Meanwhile, in Belgium, the Vrije Universiteit Brussel has opened 12 postdoctoral positions targeting international scholars, particularly Americans. The initiative has secured €2.5m through the EU’s Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme to support these appointments.
At the institutional level, the European Commission is also responding. President Ursula von der Leyen has asked the European Research Council (ERC) to double its funding to €2m for principal investigators relocating to the EU. This change, expected to begin with the May 2025 advanced grant call, would continue in 2026 and 2027. With a proposed budget of €20m, the ERC could support up to 20 new research positions across Europe.
As the US grapples with politicised science and dwindling academic autonomy, a growing number of scientists may find their future on this side of the Atlantic.
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