According to data from the European Research Council (ERC), applications from the United States for its starting, consolidator and advanced grants to individual researchers ' each worth up to '2.5 million (US$5.3 million) over five years ' rose by 120% in its most recent round of calls, compared to an overall rise in applications of 17% (see Choosing Europe below). These are the first three funding calls in which researchers moving to Europe were eligible for an extra '1 million in relocation costson top of their research grant and funds to establish their laboratories. 'We have seen a clear increase in interest from US-based researchers in these new opportunities,' a spokesperson for the ERC told Nature. The surge in demand could be another sign that a brain drain might be underway out of the United States, where thousands of research grants have been cut in the year since President Donald Trump returned to the White House. 'No doubt the uptick is a direct result of the Trump...
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