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For decades, a country more than any other has been a magnet for global research talents. The United States has become the power of science and technology in the worldR by funding students and researchers not only from the interior of its borders, but around the world, to study, experiment, innovate, find companies and evolve them. It is an environment that has created both historical scientific achievements and science -oriented prosperity. As Marcia McNutt observed, president of the American National Academy of Sciences (Mr. McNutt Proc. Natl Acad. SCI. USA 21E2321322120; 2023), it would be surprising if the United States did not win scientific Nobels during a given year.
Many countries have tried to imitate this growth model led by science and to end the “brain flight” of talents at better resources in the United States. Now, the actions of the American administration run the risk of slowing down, if not from the judgment, of this trend, while the country seeks to devalue scientific evidence in the development of policies and to attack structures supporting the ecosystem of American knowledge, including universities, libraries and museums.
More than 1,600 people had responded to a Nature Survey at the time of the editorial edition. Among these, some 1,200 said that they are scientists working in the United States and plan to leave the country. Of the nearly 700 third cycle students who responded, some 550 planned to leave (see Nature https://doi.org/pffc; 2025). Respondents were self-selected and could therefore not be representative of all American researchers. But the results are a strong indication of despair that many scientists feel turmoil in American science.
75% of American scientists who responded NatureThe survey plans to leave
Many respondents to our survey cited Europe and Canada as well as privileged destinations. Some countries have lost a short time to highlight. In a Letter to the European Union research committeeR Ekaterina Zahariva, 13 Ministers of Research, including those of the research powers of France and Germany, urged the EU to grasp the moment by “welcoming brilliant talents from abroad which could suffer from interference of research and poorly motivated and brutal funding”. Partly in response, the European Research Council plans to double the amount of money it offers to the beneficiaries moved to the EU, to a maximum of 2 million euros (US $ 2.2 million) each.
The Government of the Netherlands has asked its National Council for Financing Research to establish a fund to attract the best scientists who seek to move due to the evolution of the geopolitical climate. Universities in Belgium and France have announced specific opportunities for American researchers.
This is a complicated problem, and all those concerned should work carefully and manage expectations. For Canada and Europe, there is a clear opportunity to open doors to talented researchers trained in a very successful culture of science, technology and corporate spirit. At the same time, Europe also has serious work to do to improve its own innovation marketing processes. Many researchers say that there is excessive regulation and bureaucracy, and a conservative attitude towards risks. Zahariva pilots an EU level innovation law. Among other things, it is designed to facilitate researchers and innovators on the continent to access private capital.
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As Europe creates opportunities for American researchers, He must continue to show solidarity With all those – undoubtedly a large proportion – which will not leave. Countries that have long-standing links with the United States have to strengthen them. It will not be easy because the American government assesses if international research partnerships comply with various decrees. Navigation will require creativity and leadership, including researchers. American science institutions must be protected because harmful upheavals will have long -term impacts on the future of research and scholarships.
Researchers leave their homes to acquire knowledge in other countries – and with this to progress knowledge in these countries – is centuries. It is, in many ways, the history of science. For a large part of the last century, the large direction of the trip was to the United States, starting with the Second World War. If this is reversed, it will be a disaster for the United States, a setback for global science and undoubtedly one of the largest acts of scientific self-control that the modern world will have seen. We hope, in all sincerity, that it is a moment of history that will pass, and not a permanent change. Science must, and will it prevail.