ColibriSupport for students and researchers in exile

The Emergency Assistance Program for Scientists and Artists in Exile (PAUSE), created by the Collège de France, has been supporting scientists in exile since January 16, 2017. Since 2021, the program has also supported artists and artist-educators facing danger in their home countries.

Hosting scientists at risk

The increasing proliferation of conflicts worldwide and the authoritarian excesses of certain regimes are fueling the "refugee crisis" in Europe.
Scientists and intellectuals, whose mission is to seek the truth, naturally oppose arbitrariness and falsehoods that fuel these crises, and are designated targets for repression.

Before 2016, unlike in the United States, the United Kingdom, or Germany, no national support system existed in France to welcome researchers and faculty members. Thierry Mandon, Secretary of State for Higher Education and Research, therefore decided and announced on October 13, 2016, during the Collège de France opening conference "Migrations, refugees, exiles", the creation of the PAUSE program.

With initial funding of one million euros from the Ministry of National Education, Higher Education and Research, this program is managed from the Collège de France and hosted on the premises of the Chancellerie des Universités de Paris.

The program is supported by a prestigious sponsorship committee co-chaired by Edith Heard, professor at the Collège de France, and Alain Prochiantz, Administrator of the Collège de France.

How the PAUSE program works

Following an evaluation process, the program provides financial support to public higher education and research institutions planning to host foreign researchers and faculty members in emergency situations. Co-funding grants for recruitment range from €20,000 to €60,000.

The annual calls for applications are shared by the coordination of the Refugees Committee with the entire scientific community.

Since 2019, this project has provided complementary support for researchers welcomed through an integration program designed to foster better long-term incorporation.

The Grenoble university campus has thus supported applications and welcomed several refugee researchers into its laboratories. 

The SAFE project - Supporting At-risk researchers with Fellowships in Europe 

This European consortium, of which PAUSE is a member, aims to grant scholarships to 60 scientists at risk in their home countries to help them continue their work in Europe. These researchers from all over the world and across all disciplines are selected based on the scientific excellence of their work and the dangers they face. They may be doctoral students (enrolled in a PhD program) or postdoctoral researchers. Their applications are sponsored by a higher education institution, a research organization, or an entity with a research unit based in a European Union member state. The selected scientists will be hosted there for a period of up to 24 months.