Brian Sandberg, a professor of history at Northern Illinois University who researches climate change during the Little Ice Age period from roughly the 16th to 19th centuries, had already been set to spend a year in Marseille as a visiting professor. While taking part in a workshop in the city in March, he learned of AMU’s program and decided to apply.
“The entire system of research and the entire education in the United States is really under attack,” Sandberg said.
AMU said 298 researchers from prestigious universities including Stanford and Yale had applied, despite the university’s lack of name recognition outside France compared to some of its Parisian counterparts. Berton said the high volume of applicants spoke to the “urgency” of the situation across the Atlantic.
The school has already put up €15 million to pay for the program and is lobbying the French government to match that figure, which would enable it to nearly double its planned hires from 20 to 39.
Still, moving to a new country where English is not the official language a big step. There’s also the issue of salaries, which are lower for academics in France than in the United States, and the fact there’s less money for research.
An early-career biological anthropologist said she was still awaiting contract details from AMU before putting pen to paper because of salary discrepancies, though she took comfort in the fact that the cost of living is lower in France — especially considering that education for her two children, who she said were eager to settle in Marseille, would be free.
The university’s president insisted that participants in the “Safe Place for Science” program would be paid the same wages as French researchers. The statement sought to appease concerns within France’s academic community that money would now be focused on drawing U.S. scientists whereas local researchers have long complained of insufficient funding.
But the biological anthropologist said a more carefree life could compensate for a lower salary. “There’ll be a lot less stress as a whole, politically, academically,” she reflected.
