Ireland is utilising cuts to US academic research by inviting scientists to research bodies here.
The US is shutting down the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) scientific division, called the Office of Research and Development (ORD), adding to the slew of office eliminations and thousands of federal job cuts in the country.
According to its website, the ORD identifies pressing needs in environmental health research and conducts studies that “safeguard human health and ecosystems from environmental pollutants”. The department studies forever chemicals, water-borne diseases and air pollutants among much else.
The ORD has more than 1,500 employees, including scientists and researchers, who found out about the reduction in force through a public press release, news reports suggest. The restructuring is set to save the EPA nearly $750m, the press release read.
In January this year, the EPA had a little more than 16,000 employees. This number has since been reduced by nearly 4,000 – or by around 22pc.
“Under president Trump’s leadership, EPA has taken a close look at our operations to ensure the agency is better equipped than ever to deliver on our core mission of protecting human health and the environment while powering the great American comeback,” said EPA administrator Lee Zeldin.
In March, NASA had shut down the office of its chief scientist, and technology, policy and strategy, as well as closed two other departments, affecting an unspecified number of workers.
Human resources firm Challenger, Gray and Christmas reports that the US government has cut around 288,000 jobs since the beginning of this year (not accounting for cuts in July) – a bulk of which has been attributed to the US Department of Government Efficiency.
However, Ireland, as well as the EU, are taking advantage of the extensive federal cuts to academic research in the US by inviting scientists and researchers over to Europe.
Last week, the Irish Government launched Global Talent Ireland, an initiative which hopes to attract international researchers to higher education institutions and public research bodies here.
Designed to support the recruitment of both mid-career rising stars and established research leaders, the programme will provide the resources needed to establish or relocate world-class research teams in Ireland, and will fund research across all disciplines “with a focus on strategic areas of importance to Ireland”.
The call for projects went live last Friday, which a deadline for a full proposal set for this October.
Earlier, in May, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen presented the first elements of the EU’s Choose Europe initiative, which hopes to attract the best and brightest of researchers and scientists to Europe.
While in April, the European Research Council announced it was doubling the additional funding available for grantees relocating to Europe, so that researchers based in the US or elsewhere wishing to move to Europe could apply for up to €2m beyond the usual maximum grant amount to set up a laboratory or research team.
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