Protesters demonstrate against the federal budget cuts imposed by the Trump administration during the "Stand-Up for Science" rally in Washington, DC, on Saturday, March 7, 2026. DOMINIC GWINN/MEI/SIPA
On March 7, in the United States, the Stand Up for Science movement organized demonstrations in around 50 American cities to condemn attacks by the Trump administration on academic research. On Thursday, March 26, in Paris, the French branch of this group responded to the call to protest with a march from Université de Jussieu to the Panthéon, joined by student and university staff unions. The protest was much smaller than in 2025, but it was an act of solidarity as well as a reminder: Science, in France and also in Europe, needs stronger protection.
"They are a pillar of democracy," said computer scientist Claire Mathieu, one of the organizers of the movement, during a conference held on March 6 at the Collège de France in Paris. "Understanding Trump-style attacks, expressing [our] solidarity with [our] colleagues in the US, countering these tactics, analyzing their possible spread in France and Europe and defending the free production and dissemination of knowledge" – those are the stakes driving this network, the researcher summed up.
