Rescue Horizon Europe
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MORE THAN 2'500 scientists have now signed this letter to European Commission President
A copy of this letter has been shared with Members of the European Parliament and the European Council.
Thank you for your support, and please continue to share with your colleagues

RESEARCH IN EUROPE – A UNION THAT STRIVES FOR MORE

​Founded to prevent the massive cuts to the “Horizon Europe” Budget in 2020, the RescueHorizonEurope Initiative is a grassroot campaign of researchers from all over Europe ranging from graduate students to Nobel laureates and supported by numerous, prestigious Universities, University networks and science organisations as well as over 100 Members of the European Parliament. 
 
RescueHorizonEurope aims to maintain Europe competitive as place of scientific excellence so that we can tackle current and future crises from Covid-19 over the climate change to multi-resistant bacteria or the next pandemic through the solid foundation of open research. The development of not one but many vaccines against Covid-19 would have been impossible if the scientists had not been able to base their work on decades of basic research. Yet, the massive cuts to European research funding agreed to by European Leaders in 2020 will diminish Europe’s research and innovation capabilities with implications that are likely to extend far beyond Europe’s borders.
 
We call on the EU Council, the head of governments of each member state, the European Parliament, and the European Commission to finally commit to the 3% goal of GDP for Research – it was published in 2002 to reach by 2020 – and build a task force on how to reach it by 2035. 
 
If you would like to help us making Europe competitive as place of scientific excellence and Innovation, please sign and spread the word to your fellow researchers to support our campaign as well!
Click here to sign and support this initiative
​Our initial letter to EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen from November 2020 with the original list of signees is found below. 
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Dear Dr. Von der Leyen,
 
Your agenda for Europe bears the title “A Union that strives for more”. You envisioned a Europe that takes the global lead on the major challenges of our times. A Europe that leads the transition to a healthy planet and a new digital world. A Commission who listens to the people of Europe and who matches aspiration with action.
 
We are writing to you today to say: Now is the time to strive for more. Now is the time to listen. Now is the time to act. 
 
All of us are scientists. We work in an array of different disciplines and different countries. Some of us are PhD students. Others Nobel Prize Laureates. Most of us have never met. What unites us is the passion for science. The passion for Europe. And the devastation to see European ambitions slashed to save what represents less than 0.8% of total European spending.
 
The drastic cuts to European research will have devastating effects on our ability to address major challenges of our times – including climate change, pandemics, quantum technology, artificial intelligence or personal medicine. It will inevitably lead to exodus of scientific excellence, technological dependencies, and diminished patient care. It will limit Europe’s ability to innovate and to develop a more prosperous and sustainable economy.
 
But you know this already. We are not the first ones to express our concerns. Many have done so before us – including the most experienced and respected policy advisers. Including almost every single research organisation in Europe. Including 25,000 citizens and scientists via an online petition. Including a former European Commission President. 
 
So, what more can we say? We want to remind you that behind political discussions and budget decisions arranged behind closed doors, there are real people, exceptionally talented scientists, who will leave Europe; real scientific questions that will not be answered; real progress that will not happen. All of that to the detriment of the people whom you have sworn to serve. 
 
As of today, we have collected letters from over 50 scientists in 17 different countries. Please read these letters. They are from European scientists who consider relocating their labs to places where outstanding research is encouraged and matched with ambitious funding schemes. Scientists in low-income countries write how cuts to European research will affect intercontinental scientific collaborations and their ability to train and grow. Clinicians tell you how less basic science research will directly impact the care they can provide to their patients. Experienced scientists, many of whom have achieved breakthroughs that have revolutionised the world as we know it today, express their concern that future generations will not be given the chance to follow in their footsteps. Nobel Prize Laureates who have witnessed the establishment of EU 'framework programs' speak about how these have transformed the world map of scientific research. Young scientists feel that Europe is stealing their generation the chance of discovering great things and making the world a better place.
 
We continue to receive more letters every day and will continue to share them with you as we receive them.
 
All of us have united here today to ask you to stand up to the ambitions you have set out in your Agenda for Europe – the promise you have made to the people of Europe. It is time to keep it. Strive for more. Listen. Act.
​

SIGNATORIES

The first 60 signatories are listed here. For the full list of signatories, please consult the Signatories page.
​
M.Sc. Antonia Weberling
MSCA-ITN PhD Fellow, PhD Student,
​University of Cambridge, UK
Dr. Nathalie Conrad
Marie Sklodowska Curie Research Fellow,
​Catholic University of Leuven - KU Leuven, Belgium
Prof. Michel Mayor
Nobel Laureate in Physics 2019, Emeritus Professor,
University of Geneva, Switzerland

Prof. Serge Haroche
Nobel Laureate in Physics 2012, Emeritus Professor,
Collège de France Paris, France

Prof. Jean-Pierre Sauvage
Nobel Laureate in Chemistry 2016,
University of Strasbourg, France

Sir Paul Nurse FRS
Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine 2001,
​Director of the Francis Crick Institute, UK
Prof. John O'Keefe
Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine 2014, Sainsbury Wellcome Centre, University College London, UK
Prof. Edvard Moser
Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine 2014,
​Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway

Prof. May-Britt Moser
Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine 2014,
Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway

Prof. Erwin Neher
Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine 1991,
Max-Planck-Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Germany

Prof. Jean-Marie Lehn
​
Nobel Laureate in Chemistry 1987, 
University of Strasbourg, France
Prof. Thomas Coudreau
Professor, President Réseau National de Collèges Doctoraux, University of Paris, France
Prof. Alexander Bartelt
Professor of Cardiovascular Metabolism, Universität München, Germany
Prof. Herbert Schreiber
Apl. Prof. of Neurology, Ulm University, Neurological Practice Centre & Neuropoint Academy, Germany
Dr. Loren Andreas
Emmy Noether Group Leader, Max-Planck-Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Germany
Prof. Dr. Christian von Coelln
Professor of Law, University of Cologne, Germany
Dr. Alejandro Manzano Marín
MSCA Postdoctoral Researcher, Centre for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science, University of Vienna, Austria
Dr. Marine Petit 
Postdoctoral Scholar, University of California Davis, USA
Dr. Benjamin Pingault

Marie Sklodowska-Curie Global Fellow, Harvard University School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, USA; and QuTech, Delft University of Technology, Netherlands
Dr. Viljami Sairanen
Hospital Physicist & Senior Scientist, HUS Medical Imaging Center & Baby Brain Activity Center, University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Hospital, Finland
Dr. Keti Zeka
Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Genetics, University of Cambridge, UK
Dr. Theo Van den Broek
Clinical Resident Medical Microbiology, Postdoctoral Scholar, University Medical Center Utrecht and Boston Children's Hospital, Netherlands and USA
Dr. Brian Cahill
Member of Governing Board, EuroScience, Germany
Dr. Piotr Bragoszewski
Principal Investigator, Laboratory of Protein Homeostasis, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Poland
Dr. Carlotta Olivero
Research associate, Cardiff University, UK
Dr. Amanda Sferruzzi-Perri
University Lecturer, Lister Institute of Preventive Medicine Fellow, Dept of Physiology, Development & Neuroscience, University of Cambridge, UK
Prof. Marco Sgarbi
Associate Professor, Department of Philosophy and Cultural Heritage, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, Italy
Dr. Mostafa Shawrav 
Chair Marie Curie Alumni Association, Austria
Dr. Ainara Sistiaga
Postdoctoral Scholar, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
Dr. Jan Stanek
Research associate, University of Warsaw (Faculty of Chemistry and Biological and Chemical Research Centre), Warsaw, Poland
Dr. Morena Tartari
Marie Sklodowska Curie Research Fellow, University of Antwerp, Belgium
Dr. Elsa Abs
Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Global Postdoctoral Fellow, Laboratory for Sciences of Climate and Environment, University of California Irvine, USA, France
M.Sc. Akorede Kalejaiye
Nigeria 
Dr. Sonja Zitzelsberger
Postdoctoral Scholar, University of Kassel, Germany
Prof. Joseph Moran
Professor, ISIS, University of Strasbourg and CNRS, France
Dr. Pawel Dydio
Assistant Professor, Institute of Science and Supramolecular Engineering, University of Strasbourg and CNRS, France
Dr. Nina Lueck
Marie Sklodowska Curie Fellow , University College Dublin, Sutherland School of Law, Ireland ​

​Prof. Patrick, Lemaire
Group leader, Centre of Cell Research Montpellier (CRBM), CNRS senior researcher, EMBO member, President, French Society for Developmental Biology (SFBD)
​
Prof. Thomas Hermans
Professor, University of Strasbourg and CNRS, France
​​M.Sc. Priscila Borba Borges 
PhD student, University of Porto, Portugal
Dr. Ester Comellas Sanfeliu
Marie Sklodowska Curie Global Fellow, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Spain
Prof. Enrica De Cian
Associate Professor, Department of Economics, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, Italy
Dr. Magdalena Djordjevic
Principal Research Fellow, Institute of Physics Belgrade, Serbia
Dr. Torstein Fjermenstad
MSCA Postdoctoral researcher, Politecnico di Milano, Italy
Prof. Dr. Liesbet Geris
Full Professor, University of Liège and KU Leuven, Belgium
Dr. Marie Górna
Group Leader, University of Warsaw, Poland
Dr. Almer Gungor
Marie Sklodowska Curie Research Fellow, Department of Physics and Astronomy, KU Leuven, Belgium
Dr. Katerina Danae Kandylaki
Postdoctoral researcher, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience
Maastricht University, Netherlands
Dr. Gabor Kismihók
Head of Learning and Skills Analytics Research Group, Leibniz Information Centre for Science and Technology (TIB), Germany
Prof. Lorenzo Moroni
Professor in Biofabrication for Regenerative Medicine, Vice-Director MERLN Institute for Technology-Inspired Regenerative Medicine, Maastricht University, Netherlands
Dr. Gaëlle Offranc Piret
Permanent researcher, French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM), France
​Dr. Patricia Altea Manzano
Postdoctoral researcher, Center for Cancer Biology, VIB-KU Leuven, Belgium
Dr. Siobhán Airey
Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University College Dublin, Ireland
Dr Matteo Barbone
Humboldt Fellow, Technical University of Munich, Germany
M.Sc. Markus Schliffka
PhD Student, Institut Curie, Paris, France
Fg. Off Connor Ross
PhD Student, Stem Cell Institute, University of Cambridge, UK
Prof Johannes Weberling
Professor of Media Law, European University Viadrina Frankfurt Oder, Germany
M.Sc. Svetlana Jovanic
MSCA-ITN PhD Fellow, PhD student, University Paris Sud, France
Dr. Matteo Molè
Postdoctoral Researcher, Research Associate Clare College, University of Cambridge, UK
M.Sc. Tanja Verena Matheis
Doctoral candidate, Department of Organic Agricultural Sciences, University of Kassel, Germany
Dr. Carsten Schulte
Researcher, Interdisciplinary Centre for Nanostructured Materials and Interfaces, Department of Physics, University of Milan, Italy 
Dr. Julian Klein
Alexander von Humboldt Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology - MIT, USA


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