Austria hails 'brain gain' in luring 25 academics away from US after cuts

VIENNA (Reuters) -Austria has lured what it calls 25 "top researchers" away from U.S. institutions including Harvard, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Princeton with grants set up in response to the Trump administration's funding cuts targeting universities.

Recipients of the grants of 500,000 euros ($587,000) each over two years range from post-doctoral researchers to professors and work in fields such as physics, chemistry and life sciences, the Austrian Academy of Sciences said in a statement on Thursday.

"Thank Trump for this brain gain," the academy's president Heinz Fassmann said.

"We have succeeded in bringing these outstanding individuals from the United States to Austria. They bring with them new ideas, new perspectives and international networks. That is a big win for Austrian science," he added, without naming them.

U.S. President Donald Trump has cracked down on universities over a range of issues like pro-Palestinian protests against U.S. ally Israel's assault on Gaza, transgender policies, climate initiatives and diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

The White House has said even with the cuts, the U.S. would still account for the most global research funding

Austria is among the countries that have responded by seeking to lure away academics currently working at universities in the United States. In March, 13 European countries including France, Germany and Spain, urged the EU Commission to move fast to attract academic talent.

While Austria is better known for the intellectuals it produced in the 19th and early 20th centuries, such as psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud or quantum physicist Erwin Schroedinger, it currently has four universities in the global Shanghai ranking's top 300.

Recipients of the grants will start work this year at Austrian universities or research institutions.

"At a time when political interference and authoritarian tendencies are encroaching on research and teaching, we are taking a strong stand against them," Austria's minister for science and research, Eva-Maria Holzleitner of the Social Democrats, said.

($1 = 0.8519 euros)

(Reporting by Francois Murphy; editing by Alexandra Hudson)