While the Trump administration has reduced billions of dollars Federal funding for scientific researchThousands of scientists in the United States have lost their jobs or subsidies – and governments and universities in the world spotted an opportunity.
In this photo provided by the University Health Network, the Prime Minister of Ontario Doug Ford, Center, is held with other government and UHn officials in personalized hockey jerseys during the announcement of the “Leads Canada” program in Toronto on Monday, April 7, 2025. (Jacob Cote / Uhn via AP)
The “Directorate of Canada” program launched in April, hopes to promote the next generation of innovators by bringing biomedical researchers at the start of their career north of the border.
The Aix -Marseille University in France launched the “Place for Science” program in March – committing to “welcome” American scientists who “can feel threatened or hampered in their research”.
Australia’s Global Talent Program attraction, announced in April, promises competitive wages and relocation packages.
“In response to what is happening in the United States,” said Anna-Maria Arabia, head of the Australian Academy of Sciences, “we see an unrivaled opportunity to attract some of the smartest minds here.”
Since the Second World War, the United States Invested enormous sums of money In scientific research carried out in independent universities and federal agencies. This funding has helped the United States become the first scientific power in the world – and has led to the invention of mobile phones and the Internet as well as new ways of treating cancer, heart disease and stroke, noted Holden Thorp, editor of the journal Science.
But today, this system is shaken.
Since President Donald Trump took office in January, his administration highlighted what she calls waste and ineffectiveness in federal scientific expenditure and made major reductions staff level And grants At National Science Foundation,National Institutes of HealthNASA and other agencies, as well as the reduction of dollars of research which flow to Certain private universities.
The White House budget proposal for next year calls to reduce the budget of NIH by around 40% and the National Science Foundation by 55%.
“The Trump administration spent its first months to examine the projects of the previous administration, to identify waste and to realign our research expenses to equal the priorities of the American people and to continue our innovative domination,” said the White House spokesman Kush Desai.
Several universities have already announced that hiring of freezing, staff licensed or ceased to admit new graduate students. Thursday, the Trump administration Revoked the capacity of Harvard University To register international students, although a judge put it on hold.
Research institutions abroad look at concern for collaborations that depend on colleagues in the United States – but they also see opportunities to potentially poach talents.
“There are threats to science … south of the border,” said Brad Wouters, from the University Health Network, the main medical research center in Canada, which launched the “Leads Leads” recruitment collection. “There is a whole basin of talents, a whole cohort which is affected by this moment.”
Promise a safe place to make science
Universities around the world are still trying to recruit each other from each other, as well as technological companies and businesses in other areas do. What is unusual in the current moment is that many global recruiters target researchers by promising something that seems newly threatened: academic freedom.
The president of the European Commission, Ursula, von der Leyen, said this month that the European Union intended to “consecrate the freedom of scientific research on law”. She spoke during the launch of “Choison Europe for Science” of the block – which was underway before the Trump administration cuts but sought to capitalize at the time.
Eric Berton, president of Aix-Marseille University, expressed a similar feeling after launching the institution’s “Safe Place for Science” program.
“Our American research colleagues are not particularly interested in money,” he said about candidates. “What they want above all is being able to continue their research and their academic freedom is preserved.”
Too early to say “brain flight”
It is too early to say how many scientists will choose to leave the United States, universities will take months to examine applications and extinguish funding, and longer for researchers to uproot their lives.
In addition, the American leader in research and development of financing is enormous – and even important cuts can leave crucial programs. The United States has been the main global R&D funder – including government, university and private investments – for decades. In 2023, the country financed 29% of world R&D, according to the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
But some institutions abroad report significant early interest on the part of researchers in the United States, almost half of the requests to a “security for science” – 139 out of 300 in total – came from scientists based in the United States, including IA researchers and astrophysicists.
Applicants based in the United States in this year’s recruitment tour for the French Institute for Genetics, molecular and cellular biology were almost doubled compared to last year.
At the Max Planck Society in Germany, the program of excellence Lise Meitner – intended for young researchers – attracted the triple of the number of applications of American scientists this year that last year.
Recruiters who work with companies and non -profit organizations say they see a similar trend.
Natalie Derry, a general partner based in the United Kingdom of the world practice of emerging sciences with recruiter Wittkieffer, said that her team had seen an increase of 25% to 35% of candidates for American cold calls on open positions. When they contact scientists currently based in the United States, “we get a much higher success rate showing interest.”
However, there are practical obstacles to overcome for the Hoppers on the potential continent, she said. This may include linguistic obstacles, the organization of child care or the care of the elderly and significant differences in national pension or retirement programs.
Community links
Brandon Coventry never thought he would consider a scientific career outside the United States. But the federal financing cuts and the questions on the question of whether new subsidies will materialize have left it uncertain. Although reluctant to leave his family and friends, he applied for teacher positions in Canada and France.
“I never wanted to leave the United States necessarily, but it is a serious competitor for me,” said Coventry, who is a postdoctoral scholarship holder studying neural implants at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
But it is not easy to resume and move a scientific career – not to mention a life.
Marianna Zhang studied how children develop breed and gender stereotypes as a postdoctoral scholarship holder at New York University when her subsidy of the National Science Foundation was canceled. She said it was like “America as a country was no longer interested in studying questions like mine”.
However, she was not sure of her next move. “It is not an easy solution, simply flee and escape from another country,” she said.
Recruitment programs are ambition, of those who try to attract a dozen researchers in a single university at the “Choosing Europe” initiative on a continent level.
But it is not clear if the total amount of funding and new positions offered could correspond to what is lost in the United States
A global vacuum
Even if universities and institutes are thinking of recruiting talent in the United States, there is more apprehension than Glee during the financing cuts.
“Science is a global company,” said Patrick Cramer, head of the Max Planck Society, noting that data sets and discoveries are often shared between international collaborators.
A recruitment objective is to “help prevent loss of talent for the global scientific community,” he said.
Researchers from around the world will suffer if the collaborations are closed and the databases are offline, according to scientists.
“The United States has always been an example, both in science and in education,” said Patrick Schultz, president of the genetics, molecular and cellular biology of France. Thus, cuts and politicians were also “very frightening for us because it was an example for the whole world”.
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