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For decades, one country was more than any other magnet for global research talent. The United States has become the power of science and technology in the world by financing students and researchers not only from within its borders, but from all over the world, studying, experimenting, innovation, finding companies and expanding their scope. It is an environment that created both historical scientific achievements and science -based prosperity. Maria McKenot, President of the National Academy of American Science, also noticed (M. Mcnutt Brook. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 21E2321322120; 2023It will be surprising that the United States won science in any specific year.
Many countries have tried to simulate this model of science -led growth, and to prevent “talent depletion” of the best resources laboratories in the United States. Now, the actions of the American administration are subject to the risk of slowing down, if it does not stop, in this direction, as the country seeks to reduce the value of scientific evidence in policy -making and attack structures that support the ecosystems of American knowledge, including universities, libraries and museums.
More than 1,600 people responded to a nature A poll at the time of publishing this editing. Among them, about 1,200 said they are scientists working in the United States and thinking about leaving the country. Of nearly 700 graduate students who responded, there were about 550 students thinking about leaving (see nature https://doi.org/PFFC; 2025). The respondents were choosing themselves, and therefore may not be representatives of all American researchers. But the results are a strong indication of the despair that many scientists feel in the unrest in the American flag.
75 % of the scientists who answered natureOpinion poll in leaving
Many respondents cited our survey in Europe and Canada as preferred destinations. Some countries have lost little time to put themselves. in A message to the European Union Research CommitteeR ekaterina zhaarieva, 13 research ministers, including those in research forces in France and Germany, urged the European Union to seize “welcoming wonderful talents from abroad and who may suffer from research intervention and unpopular and brutal financing.” A partial response, the European Research Council plans to double the amount of money it provides to the beneficiaries who move to the European Union, A maximum of 2 million euros (2.2 million US dollars) each.
The Netherlands government asked the National Research Finance Council to establish a fund to attract senior scientists looking to move due to the changing geopolitical climate. Universities in Belgium and France have announced specific opportunities for American researchers.
This is a complex issue, and all those concerned must be taken carefully and managed expectations. For Canada and Europe, there is a clear opportunity to open the doors for talented researchers who have been trained in the culture of science, technology and very successful entrepreneurship. At the same time, Europe also has some serious works that you can do to improve its special processes to market innovation. Many researchers say that there is excessive and bureaucratic organization and a conservative position on risk. Zhaarieva is experimenting with the European Union innovation law. Among other things, they are designed to facilitate access to researchers and innovators on the continent to reach private capital.
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Since Europe creates opportunities for American researchers, it should continue to show solidarity with all these – undoubtedly a large percentage – they will not leave. Countries with long -term links with the United States must strengthen them. This will not be easy, because the United States government assesses whether international research partnerships are compatible with various executive requests. Mobility in this creativity and leadership, including researchers. American science institutions must be protected because harmful disturbances will have long -term effects on the future of research and scholarships.
Researchers who leave their homes to acquire knowledge in other countries – however, to apply for knowledge in those countries – are centuries -old. It is, in many ways, the story of science. For most of the last century, the wide trend of travel towards the United States was from the period before World War II. If that reflects, this will be a disaster for the United States, a setback for the science of the world, and it can be said that it is one of the greatest works of harm to the scientific self that the modern world will be in. We hope, with sincerity, that it is a moment in history that will pass, and not a permanent change. Science should prevail.