Universities worldwide are always trying to recruit from one another, just as tech companies and businesses in other fields do. What’s unusual about the current moment is that many global recruiters are targeting researchers by promising something that seems newly threatened: academic freedom… But some institutions abroad are reporting significant early interest from researchers in the U.S. Nearly half of the applications to Safe Place for Science — 139 out of 300 total — came from U.S.-based scientists, including AI researchers and astrophysicists… Recruiters who work with companies and nonprofits say they see a similar trend.
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by Christina Larson, Adithi Ramakrishnan and Jamey Keaten, The Los Angeles Times.
Posted: May 25th, 2025, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.
Last year, United For Medical Research, a coalition of research institutes, says $5.1 billion awarded to California universities and hospitals generated $13.8 billion in jobs, services and scientific discovery. “There’s a production of intellectual property that can turn into drugs or treatments, and so the returns are pretty huge,” said Yang. However, in March, the Department of Government Efficiency led by Elon Musk – also known as DOGE – reported it slashed $109 million in grants just to UCLA. Many more programs across the state remain in limbo. “If the federal government is going to pull back from scientific leadership and research, California should step up even more and lead the world,” said California Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco). He introduced a bill that would help fill the funding gaps.
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by Denise Dador, ABC7.
Posted: May 2nd, 2025, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.
A week after restoring foreign students’ legal status, immigration officials detailed plans for a new policy granting unprecedented leeway to terminate their residency. It could foreshadow a new round of deportation efforts… “I’m talking to international students who are currently in the U.S., to international students who’ve been admitted to study in the U.S. starting in the fall, and they’re asking, ‘Will we be able to complete our degree program?’” she said. “The answer is that it’s unclear.”
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by Liam Knox, Inside Higher Ed.
Posted: May 2nd, 2025, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.
European governments have sought to bolster their universities’ efforts to recruit international researchers, amid signs that an expected exodus in U.S.-based scholars is beginning. On April 23, Norway’s education ministry announced the creation of a $9.6 million initiative, designed by the Research Council of Norway, to “make it easier to recruit experienced researchers from other countries.” … Last week, the French ministry of higher education and research launched the Choose France for Science platform, operated by the French National Research Agency.
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by Emily Dixon, Inside Higher Ed.
Posted: May 1st, 2025, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.
UC Berkeley faculty have called on University of California President Michael Drake to protect political speech and academic freedom across the state’s premier higher-education system and challenge the Trump administration’s “unprecedented attack” on higher education. UC Berkeley’s Academic Senate, comprised of campus faculty, approved the resolution last week… The faculty resolution insists that the University of California and UC President Drake challenge “illegal demands” by the federal government rather than accept them… The resolution also demands UC fund legal aid for students and scholars who have had their visas revoked.
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by Molly Gibbs, The Mercury News.
Posted: May 1st, 2025, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.
Rufo is the conservative activist who designed the administration’s attack on the “money, power, and status” enjoyed by Columbia, Harvard, and other top-ranked universities. He wants to cut the number of students at four-year colleges in half. It’s not clear if the administration will go that far — they may be satisfied by winning headlines at the expense of the Ivy League. But the government has more ambitious goals than its enumerated demands. That’s why, despite conceding to federal demands, Columbia has not gotten its funding back. The more universities concede, the more the administration will demand. The conservative critique of higher education is exaggerated and distorted, and these kinds of purported solutions are dangerous.
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by James Kvaal, The Chronicle of Higher Education.
Posted: April 29th, 2025, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.
UC Davis reported on Wednesday that 10 UC Davis students and eight recent graduates have had their F-1 visas terminated, updating the numbers from the weekend (seven students and five recent graduates)… The Council of University of California Faculty Association (a UC-wide advocacy organization with representation at each of the 10 UCs) and UC-AFT (which represents non-senate faculty and librarians) urge UC Office of the President to provide legal support to students whose visas are revoked; allow affected students to stay enrolled and continue their studies remotely; ensure deported students or scholars continue to receive funding until the end of their contracts; let deported faculty or staff work remotely and keep their salaries; and take action in federal court to prevent visa terminations without due process.
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by Monica Stark, The Davis Enterprise.
Posted: April 11th, 2025, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.
Pratheepan Gulasekaram of the University of Colorado, said Trump’s Department of Homeland Security “is acting as though they are unbounded by congressional laws and can simply remove people at their discretion. This should scare all Americans — citizens, green card holders and student visitors.” Kevin Johnson, immigration law professor and former dean of the UC Davis law school, said he is concerned the Trump administration’s actions could discourage prospective students from applying to American universities in the future. “It’s going to have an impact on students coming, impact on universities in paying revenues, and that means there’s likely to be fewer foreign scholars who decide to come to the U.S. or stay after they’ve gotten a degree here,” he said.
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by Anna Bauman, St. John Barned-Smith, Bob Egelko, The San Francisco Chronicle.
Posted: April 9th, 2025, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.
Berg said the NIH’s justification that it can terminate a grant because it no longer “effectuates agency priorities” will “almost certainly” be litigated. “When a grant is awarded to a university, there are terms and conditions that go with the grant. It’s basically a legal contract,” he said. “The question of whether the rationale they’re giving is actually legal is very much an open question. I don’t think it’s a foregone conclusion that the great majority of the terminations that have been done are in fact legal.” … A federal judge in Massachusetts has also enjoined the NIH’s recent guidance to cap the amount of money it sends to institutions to cover indirect research costs after a cavalry of Democratic attorneys general, institutions and trade associations argued in a lawsuit that the plan is “arbitrary and capricious,” in violation of the APA.
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by Kathryn Palmer, Inside Higher Ed.
Posted: April 2nd, 2025, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.
Every year, maintenance costs for University of California and California State University campuses total a combined $1.5 billion. But those repairs don’t always get made. The unpredictable nature of the state’s budget means there isn’t always enough money to make all the necessary fixes. State revenue has been sporadic, with hundreds of millions some years and no money in others. Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposed 2025-26 budget does not include any money for repairs, known as deferred maintenance, or other infrastructure projects. Absent a long-term funding plan, the deferred maintenance backlog has grown to an estimated $9.1 billion for the University of California and $8.3 billion for Cal State University as of the 2023-24 school year, driven by aging buildings and increasing costs for labor and parts.
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by Victoria Mejicanos, Matthew Reagan and Mercy Sosa, CalMatters.
Posted: April 1st, 2025, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.
