EU Launches €500 Million ‘Choose Europe’ Campaign to Recruit Researchers
May 07, 2025
The European Union (EU) will spend €500 million through 2027 to recruit researchers and scientists as part of new
“Choose Europe” campaign, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen announced on Monday. In her
speech, von der Leyen emphasized the European Union’s commitment to scientific excellence and outlined plans to reduce barriers and improve long-term prospects for researchers working in Europe.
In addition to the funding package, the EU will propose to expand incentives for early-career scientists and create a new seven-year “super grant” under the European Research Council. The initiative also includes plans to enshrine freedom of scientific research into law, simplify immigration processes for researchers and advance a European Innovation Act to accelerate the path from scientific discovery to commercialization.
The “Choose Europe” campaign launch comes at a time when the future of federal research funding in the United States remains uncertain. In his
discretionary budget request for 2026, U.S. President Donald Trump proposed reducing funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) by nearly $18 billion, though the request would still allocate $27 billion to NIH. AABB has issued
several communications urging Congress to maintain robust NIH funding to support scientific progress and improve patient care.
