With the new U.S. presidential administration, under various pretexts, beginning to freeze public funding for some universities and demand an end to certain lines of research on issues including climate change, vaccines and minority and gender studies, a number of European countries have begun to try to attract U.S. researchers whose work is under attack.

"This global landscape is an opportunity to show the world that Europe will remain a safe space for science and research," European Commissioner for Startups, Research and Innovation Ekaterina Zaharieva told EU lawmakers on Monday evening.

"Europe can and should be the best place to do science ... a place that attracts and retains researchers, both international and European," she added.

According to a report by Politico, Zaharieva also said the Commission would enshrine freedom of research in EU law and immediately increase the financial support offered by the European Research Council (ERC). That would mean researchers moving to Europe from the U.S. could in future apply for funding totaling up to €4.5 million.

Among the European institutions aiming to attract more U.S. research talent include Aix Marseille University in France, the Vrije Universiteit in Brussels, Belgium, and the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden.

Estonian universities have not yet taken similar steps.

According to Tallinn University Rector Tõnu Viik, there is no centralized plan to try to attract U.S. researchers or academics to join their ranks. "But inviting researchers is generally something that is done directly between researchers and research groups at the university," Viik said, adding that he may not have all the information on the specifics of those processes.

According to Viik, the clash between the U.S. administration and its universities will have an impact on their autonomy.

"If, in a country like the U.S., whose universities have been flagships among the world's universities since the 1960s, the autonomy is curtailed, then it weakens universities. It weakens science and it weakens the status of universities elsewhere in the world," Viik said.

Asked whether the idea to restrict universities' autonomy could spread to other countries, such as Estonia, Viik said of course it could.

"We are seeing various attempts to import U.S. culture wars into Estonia, and we have already had several attempts to import these cultural confrontations, which are mostly political, of course. We also see that populist conservative circles in Europe are happy to seize Trump's initiative and attack the autonomy of universities in Europe too. In the Estonian media, too, we can see that there are more than the usual amount of expressions of disparagement toward universities. I also see this as a form of importing a culture war," Viik said.

Unlike in the U.S., the Estonian state has not attacked universities. "In Estonia, universities and the principle of their autonomy have been criticized by various voices, especially in the media. Universities themselves have to argue against this and make their voices heard," Viik said.

Viik said he was not aware of any cooperation projects between Tallinn University researchers and U.S universities that have been cancelled in the light of recent events. "Instead, I am still hearing that cooperation will continue," Viik said.

UT Rector: Cooperation projects with U.S. partners impacted

Rector of the University of Tartu Toomas Asser also said that the university has not directly discussed the question at management level of whether to invite researchers from the U.S.

"Of course, the University of Tartu is interested in international academic staff, but there is no concrete strategy at the moment. In the Guild of European Research-Intensive Universities, the issue has been discussed at the level of vice rectors but the University of Tartu has no plans to do the same as yet. We are not going to the market to specifically ask that at the moment," Asser said.

According to Asser, there is no doubt that what is happening in the U.S. is shaking up the academic world.

"Academic freedom is literally under attack. I don't know the details at the moment, because the situation there is changing quite intensively. However, in the U.S. there is clear hostility toward certain lines of research and funding has been cut off. Our American colleagues are terrified of what is happening there. And not just in one university, but more broadly," Asser said.

Asseri said he had received information from rectors of other European universities who had been in the U.S. in recent weeks. They described the situation as frightening and very serious.

"It is unfortunate that this is the case. There may be long term research projects for which the withdrawal of funding could be the death knell. It's certainly not a wise thing to do, what's going on there at the moment," the rector said.

According to Asser, it is impossible to say whether research that has been cut in the U.S. can be simply continued in Europe or elsewhere in the world.

"I don't know, it depends on the size of the projects that have been initiated and who has been deployed. The academic capacity in Europe is there, but whether it's possible to transfer what's been held up to Europe directly – it may not be that simple," he said.

According to Asser, Estonia should not only focus on the U.S. but could also attract academics from other countries too.

"There is a need in Estonia. We have a shortage of doctoral students and a shortage of doctoral supervisors. We have Estonian researchers who could return to Estonia. We don't know if the changes in the U.S. will impact these Estonian researchers, but if we are going to bring someone here, then I am thinking, first and foremost, of bringing back Estonian researchers," Asser said.

The U.S. policy developments have already had an impact on research at the University of Tartu. "We have cooperation projects with the U.S. that have been affected," Asser said.

EKA: Estonian universities need time to decide

The Estonian Academy of Arts (EKA) is still in the process of discussing the issue related to inviting U.S. researchers to work in the country.

"Since the availability of different funding opportunities is not yet clear at the state level, we haven't made our plans concrete yet. Instead, we have been mapping out our wishes and needs in relation to Estonians who have gone to work or study in the U.S., and are thinking more broadly about what kind of U.S. researchers and lecturers EKA might need," said Linda Kaljundi, EKA's vice rector for research.

Kaljundi pointed out that countries have found a number of different ways to invite U.S. researchers to Europe. "Some countries, such as Finland and France, have been more active," she added.

EKA Rector Hilkka Hiiop noted that the issue has been raised in the EKA Rectorate and the university's steering committee. However, EKA, like all other Estonian universities, needs more time to make a decision.

"There is no concrete plan at the moment, because it is related to money as well as choices. On Monday there is a meeting of the rectors of Estonian universities where this will be one of the items on the agenda," Hiiop said.

According to Kaljundi, U.S. universities have reacted differently in response to the government's conservative policies: while Harvard has been more forceful in its opposition, the University of Minnesota, for example, has withdrawn its support for Ukraine.

None of the collaborative projects with U.S. partners that are already under way at the EKA have been cancelled as a result of cutbacks or for other reasons. "EKA also has a partner university in the U.S. – Rhode Island School of Design, with which our cooperation is continuing," Kaljundi said.

The future of higher education in the U.S. is currently the subject of a fierce battle, with several elite universities falling foul of the Trump administration. The powers that be claim elite universities have failed to curb the antisemitism that has accompanied pro-Palestinian protests and are threatening to cut university funding. Washington also wants universities to abandon its policies promoting diversity.

The university backlash against Trump's policies is being led by Harvard University, which recently rejected the administration's demands for policy changes. Trump is pressuring the university with a proposed $2.2 billion cut and a threat to remove the university's tax-exempt status.

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