Textual transcription | Hosting international researchers at Aix-Marseille University
Eric Berton, President of Aix-Marseille University: Safe Place For Science is a scientific asylum system that includes researchers working in American laboratories who have been prevented from doing their research or academic freedom by the American administration of the United States. There were 600 applications, we welcome 31 colleagues, 20 are funded by ExMarsi University via Safe Place for Science and 11 are funded by Choose France, the French government's programme. The way we worked with the Ministry was very close, because as soon as we launched this programme, the first week we received the Minister of National Education and then Philippe Baptiste, the Minister of Higher Education and Research, who came to bring their support to this programme very quickly. Then we worked together on the definition of profiles, the way they are selected. I think this is something that will mark the decades to come in relation to our country's ability to respect academic freedoms. Young researchers are recruited on CDD contracts, but in general, the profiles we have are professors, professors who are about 50 years old, who are already established, renowned, so it will bring a lot of things to our establishment. But these are also contracts that will be given over three years, and then we will see how they are sustained. So we really give ourselves time to sustain and continue these actions. In any case, collaborations really have beneficial effects, since indeed, when we receive a researcher, we receive the researcher, but also an environment, postdocs, doctoral students, and so that's why it will start up an entire ecosystem.
