As the Trump administration reduced billions of dollars in Federal Financing for Scientific ResearchThousands of scientists in the United States lost their work or subsidies, and governments and universities around the world He saw an opportunity.
The “Leader of Canada” program, launched in April, hopes to promote the next generation of innovators by bringing biomedical researchers from the early race north of the border.
The University of Aix-Marseille in France began the “Safe Place for Science” program in March, committing to “welcome” scientists based in the United States who “may feel threatened or hindered in their research.”
The “global talent attraction program of Australia”, announced in April, promises competitive wages and relocation packages.
“In response to what is happening in the United States,” said Anna-Maria Arabia, director of the Academy of Sciences of Australia, “we see an incomparable opportunity to attract some of the most intelligent minds here.”
Since World War II, the United States has Inverted huge amounts of money in scientific research carried out in independent universities and federal agencies. This financing helped the United States becoming the main scientific power of the world, and has led to the invention of cell phones and the Internet, as well as new ways of treating cancer, heart disease and strokes, known Holden Thorp, editor in chief of the journal Science.
But today that system is being shaken.
Since President Donald Trump assumed the position in January, his administration has indicated what he calls waste and inefficiency in federal science spending and made great cuts to Personnel levels and Subsidies financing to the National Science Foundation,National Health InstitutesNASA and other agencies, as well as the reduction of research dollars that flow to Some private universities.
The White House Budget proposal for next year calls to reduce NIH budget by approximately 40% and the National Science Foundation by 55%.
“The Trump administration is passing its first months by reviewing the projects of the previous administration, identifying the waste and realizing our research expenses so that they coincide with the priorities of the US people and continue with our innovative domain,” said White House spokesman Kush Desai.
Already, several universities have announced hiring freezing, dismissed from staff or stopped admitting new postgraduate students. On Thursday, the Trump Administration Revokes the skill of Harvard University To register international students, although a judge Put that.
Foreign research institutions are observing with concern about collaborations that depend on colleagues in the United States, but also see opportunities for potentially talent hunters.
“There are threats to science … south of La Frontera,” said Brad Wouters, by University Health Network, the main hospital and Medical Research Center in Canada, which launched the recruitment campaign of “Canada leaders.” “There is a complete set of talent, a complete cohort that is affected by this moment.”
Universities around the world are always trying to recruit each other, as do companies and technology companies in other fields. The unusual thing about the current moment is that many world recruiters are pointing to researchers promising something that seems recently threatened: academic freedom.
The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said this month that the European Union intends to “consecrate the freedom of scientific research in the law.” She spoke at the launch of the “Europe of Europe for Science” of the block, which was in process before the Trump Administration cuts, but has tried to capitalize at the time.
Eric Berton, president of the University of Aix-Marseille, expressed a similar feeling after launching the program “Safe Place for Science” of the institution.
“Our American research colleagues are not particularly interested in money,” he said about applicants. “What they want above all is to be able to continue their research and preserve their academic freedom.”
It is too early to say how many scientists will choose to leave the US.
In addition, the American leader in the research and development of financing is enormous, and even significant cuts can leave crucial programs standing. The United States has been the main world financier of RANDD – including government, university and private investment – for decades. In 2023, the country financed 29% of the world of the worldANDD, according to the American Association for the Advance of Science.
But some institutions abroad report a significant early interest of researchers in the US.
Applicants based in the United States in the recruitment round of this year for the Institute of Genetics, Molecular and Cellular Biology in France doubled during the past year.
In the Max Planck Society in Germany, the Lise Meitner Excellence program, aimed at young researchers, attracted the number of applications of headquarters in the United States this year as last year.
Recruitors who work with non -profit companies and organizations say they see a similar trend.
Natalie Derry, a managing partner of the United Kingdom of the Global Practice of Emerging Sciences in the Wittkieffer recruiter, said that her team has seen an increase of 25% to 35% in the applicants of the United States. UU. Cold cool on open positions. When they communicate with scientists currently based in the USA. UU., “We are obtaining a much higher success rate of people who show interest.”
Even so, there are practical obstacles to overcome by possible continent jumps, he said. That may include language obstacles, organize child care or careful care and significant differences in national pension or retirement programs.
Brandon Coventry never thought he would consider a scientific career outside the United States. But federal fund cuts and questions about whether new grants will materialize have left it insecure. Although I reluctant to leave his family and friends, he applies to the faculty positions in Canada and France.
“I have never wanted to leave the United States necessarily, but this is a serious contender for me,” said Coventry, who is a postdoctoral partner who studies neural implants at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
But it is not easy to collect and move a scientific career, much less a life.
Marianna Zhang was studying how children develop stereotypes of race and gender as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of New York when their subsidy of the National Foundation of Sciences was canceled. She said she felt “the United States as a country was no longer interested in studying questions like mine.”
Even so, she was not sure of her next movement. “It is not an easy solution, just fleeing and escaping another country,” he said.
Recruitment programs vary in ambition, from those trying to attract a dozen researchers to a single university to the initiative to “choose Europe” throughout the continent.
But it is not clear if the total amount of funds and new positions offered could match what is being detached in the United States.
Even when universities and institutes think about recruiting talent from the United States, there is more apprehension than joy in fund cuts.
“Science is a global effort,” said Patrick Cramer, head of the Max Planck society, noting that data sets and discoveries are often shared among international collaborators.
An objective of recruitment units is “to help prevent loss of talent to the global scientific community,” he said.
Researchers around the world will suffer if collaborations close and databases are disconnected, scientists say.
“The United States was always an example, both in science and education,” said Patrick Schultz, president of the Institute of Genetics, Molecular and Cellular Biology in France. Then, the cuts and policies were “very frightening also for us because it was an example for everyone.”
___
The Department of Health and Sciences of Associated Press receives support from the Science and Educational Media Group of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
