ColibriSupport for students and researchers in exile

The Emergency Assistance Program for Scientists and Artists in Exile (PAUSE), designed by the Collège de France, has been in existence since January 16, 2017, to support scientists in exile. Since 2021, the program has also been supporting artists and artist-teachers who are in danger in their countries of origin.

Hosting scientists at risk

The increased proliferation of conflicts around the world and the authoritarian tendencies of certain regimes are fueling the "refugee crisis" in Europe.
Scientists and intellectuals, whose mission is to seek the truth, are by nature opposed to the arbitrariness and falsehoods that fuel these crises, and are prime targets for repression.

Prior to 2016, there was no national support system for researchers and teacher-researchers in France, unlike in the United States, the United Kingdom, or Germany. The Secretary of State for Higher Education and Research, Thierry Mandon, therefore decided and announced on October 13, 2016, during the Collège de France's back-to-school symposium "Migrations, Refugees, Exiles," the creation of the PAUSE program.

With initial funding of €1 million from the French Ministry of National Education, Higher Education, and Research, this program is led by the Collège de France and housed in the offices of the Chancellery of the Universities of 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 awards grants to public higher education and research institutions planning to host foreign researchers and teacher-researchers in emergency situations. The co-financing grant for recruitment ranges from €20,000 to €60,000.

The Annual calls for applications are relayed by the Refugee Committee coordination team to the entire scientific community.

Since 2019, this project has provided additional support to visiting researchers through an integration program designed to facilitate better long-term integration.

The Grenoble university site 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 award grants to 60 scientists who are at risk in their home countries, enabling them to continue their work in Europe. These researchers, who come from all over the world and from all disciplines, are selected on the basis of the excellence of their scientific work and the danger they face. They may be doctoral students (enrolled in a doctoral program) or postdoctoral researchers. Their applications are submitted by a higher education institution, research organization, or research unit based in a European Union member country. Selected scientists will be welcomed for up to 24 months.