France’s response to Trump may make it a climate science hub

“Make our planet great again” effort is drawing climate scientists to France.

Most world leaders reacted with horror to President Trump's decision to pull out of the Paris climate accords. French President Emmanuel Macron responded with what was largely considered a troll: a short address in which he invites scientists and entrepreneurs to move to France and "make our planet great again." But it turned out to be more than just a troll; France has put research funding on the table and has apparently been drawing lots of interest from scientists.

Macron's invitation was more than simply a troll from the start. It involved Business France, a government agency that's dedicated to promoting French businesses overseas. The organization put together a Make Our Planet Great Again website, in which it declared "France has always led fights for human rights. Today, more than ever, we are determined to lead (and win!) this battle on climate change."

If you follow the link that indicates you want to contribute to planetary greatness, it takes you to a short survey that seems to indicate France is looking for entrepreneurs, students, teachers, and researchers. (You can also apparently be an NGO or "other" and complete the survey.)

Should you choose the researcher option, you'll eventually make your way to a page with details on the research program and how to apply for it if you're in the US. France is specifically interested in researchers with expertise in climate change, the earth sciences, and energy transitions, which it defines as including "Renewable energies, innovative zero-carbon energy sources, energy storage, smart energy-management systems, hydrogen vector, carbon storage, electrification of vehicles, as well as human and social sciences to understand, accompany, or open options for energy transition."

The page invites you to upload a short research plan, along with a summary of your academic record. But the big item is in the "How do I finance my project?" section, which lists the grants that are being made available for the program. They run for four years and start at one million Euros for a junior researcher to €1.5 million for senior researchers. According to France, the lower amount provides enough to cover salary, two grad students, and research expenses; the senior researchers also get to hire two full-time research staff.

Given that the Trump administration hopes to massively cut scientific research, the French grants must sound pretty appealing (although Congress has been aggressively supporting science funding so far). So, it's not really a surprise to find out that many researchers are interested in Make Our Planet Great Again. Nature News quotes the chief research officer of the national research agency as saying "Applications continue to come in every hour." She also notes that there are a number of senior climate scientists that France plans to directly recruit, even if they don't apply.

Unfortunately, the article notes, science funding in France is also slated for a cut, this program notwithstanding.