The great poaching: America's brain drain begins

The Trump administration’s spending cuts and restrictions on foreign students are triggering a brain drain — and American scientists are panicking.Why it matters: U.S. researchers' fears are coming true. America’s science pipeline is drying up, and countries like China are seizing the opportunity to surge ahead.“This is such a race for being the science powerhouse that you never fully recover,” says Marcia McNutt, president of the National Academy of Sciences. “You might accelerate back up to 60, but you can’t make up for those years when you were at a standstill while the competition was racing ahead.”Driving the news: The National Science Foundation, which funds much of America's fundamental science research, is already doling out grants at its slowest pace in 35 years, The New York Times reports.More cuts to science could come with the "big, beautiful bill."Universities are also watching with bated breath as the administration tries to limit the number of foreign students studying in the U.S..Harvard is pushing back, but could face a total ban on recruiting internationally. The Trump administration says it will "aggressively revoke" visas for Chinese students studying in "critical fields."By the numbers: While American universities are rescinding offers to incoming PhD students, other countries are recruiting heavily from U.S. labs.The journal Nature analyzed data from its jobs platform to track where scientists are looking for work. In the first few months of the Trump administration, there were jumps in the the number of U.S. applicants looking for jobs in Canada (+41%), Europe (+32%), China (+20%) and other Asian countries (+39%), compared to the same period in 2024.U.S. jobs saw fewer applications from candidates in Canada (–13%) and Europe (–41%).Case in point: France's Aix-Marseille University, which made headlines for earmarking millions of dollars for U.S. scientists, closed its application window after receiving a flood of apps.After American Nobel laureate Ardem Patapoutian's federal grant was frozen, he got an email from China offering 20 years of funding if he relocates his lab, The New York Times' Kate Zernike writes. He declined.“This is a once-in-a-century brain gain opportunity,” the Australian Strategic Policy Institute wrote in a brief.The other side: The White House argues that its changes to the system will usher in a golden age of science and rebuild public trust. President Trump has also suggested that spots freed up by rejecting international students could be filled by American applicants.But professors say this isn't entirely realistic."In hard sciences, in astronomy and physics and computer science, for example, there’s no way you would fill that hole with local applicants of comparable quality," says Chris Impey, an astronomer at the University of Arizona.What to watch: “The optimistic part of all of us thinks science is strong enough to outlast one administration, and for a while I thought that, but the hit to young people is at the center of the whole enterprise,” Impey says. “It’s like pulling the rug out from under the whole thing."It's not just brain drain of existing talent, he says. Students who are in high school and college now and thinking about a career in research might reconsider. "There’s plenty of things smart kids can do. They don’t have to go into science."At the same time, McNutt says she tells students: "If you went into graduate school in the fall of this year, by the time you get your PhD, this madness may be over. You come out with your new PhD ready to fill the gap."

Comments

World news

Ash Regan calls on Elon Musk to 'forget Trump and bring SpaceX to Scotland'

The Herald

Comments

World news

Ash Regan calls on Elon Musk to 'forget Trump and bring SpaceX to Scotland'

Israeli fire ‘kills 4 Palestinians’ near Gaza aid sites

Zelensky says Russia is ‘ignoring all peace proposals’ after ‘brutal’ Kharkiv attack

Chabria: Democrats are busy bashing themselves. Is it needed, or just needy?

Putin plotting to blitz Ukraine with ‘vicious & unrelenting’ revenge strike in days after Op Spiderweb, US insiders warn

Colombian presidential candidate ‘fighting for his life’ after assassination attempt

How a greenbelt village became the centre of the UK’s next big planning row

Everything we know as Trump sends National Guard to LA after anti-ICE protests

Brit backpacker, 24, could face 20 years in prison over Australian e-scooter crash

As World Pride begins in Washington, some foreigners stay away

British soldier arrested in Kenya over rape allegation

Rwanda pulls out of regional bloc over DR Congo row

Chile's Indigenous fishermen say the salmon industry threatens their way of life

Ukraine Says It Has Stepped Up Its Drone Game, Again

Elon Musk’s Starlink Hits a Roadblock in Its March Across South America

They Went to Syria to Fight With Rebels. Now Some Are Joining the New Army.

Soccer Fans Fear Being Targets of U.S. Immigration Raids

Russian Drone Swarms Test a Volunteer Air-Defense Unit Near Kyiv

The Victims of the Trump Administration’s China-Bashing

The Oklahoma City Thunder’s Good Vibes Are Being Put to the Test

Brian Lehrer and Errol Louis Take the Pulse of New York City

The £11bn ghost city home to 1 million people but is 'completely empty' 76 years later

The world's 'oldest' road that's nearly 5,000 years old and stretches for 7 miles

Virgin Atlantic could launch superfast 250Mps Wi-Fi - it might be free for some passengers

Donald Trump says relationship with Elon Musk over after feud as JD Vance brands Space X boss 'so nuclear'

Cops reveal breakthrough that led police to human remains in ‘unforgiving’ search for missing teen Pheobe Bishop

I’m the Machine Gun Preacher who Gerard Butler played in film – here’s how I survived ISIS and 10 assassination attempts

At 46, I was diagnosed with dyslexia – I’ll never get back the time and money I’ve lost

Watch: Defiance and anger on the streets of LA

The incredible European island that has 150 times more visitors than residents

The world's lowest city is 846ft below sea level and an incredible 11,000 years old

Donald Trump deploys 2,000 soldiers to LA immigration 'riots' and sends scathing message

Rape survivor fears Madeleine McCann suspect will hunt her down after 21 years if freed

If Trump has taught us one thing, it is that Scotland needs more mega-wealthy people

Ukraine-Russia war latest: Zelensky condemns ‘pure terrorism’ as Putin’s forces hit Kharkiv with new strikes

Fires erupt in streets as anti-ICE protests continue for second day in LA

Israeli forces strike Gaza residential building as 95 Palestinians killed over past 24 hours

Trump-Musk feud live updates: President threatens Tesla boss with ‘serious consequences’ if he funds Democrats

Iran’s barbaric brutality is spiralling out of control – regime is powder keg with one way out, says resistance fighter

Liam Plunkett: I often forget I was a good cricketer and played for England

Reeves to hand £86bn to fund breakthrough science as other areas face cuts

Corporation did its best for Glasgow and does not deserve this flak

Ukrainian and Scottish artists team up for Glasgow festival exploring sound

Donald Trump deploys National Guard to LA immigration 'riots' as protests turn violent

Chinese ship runs aground off Philippines-occupied island in the disputed South China Sea

Italians vote on citizenship and job protections amid low awareness and turnout concerns

Raising school fees torments many Africans. Some expect the Catholic Church to do more to help

We love our dog but the vet bills are mounting – how can we get a better deal?

This is what will happen if Putin attacks the UK with a nuclear missile

Why dementia care is so poor as patients face postcode lottery for support

Ocean with David Attenborough is more horror film than nature documentary

I went solo to a surfing holiday in Cornwall – and returned with 15 new friends

Is the UK really spending £2.2bn of foreign aid budget on asylum hotels?

Prince Harry’s dad dancing is the best thing he’s done – he’d win ‘Strictly’

Home Office staff mix up own facilities and tell wrong people they’ll be deported

The best posh picnic snacks for under £7

I met Beyoncé after a chance encounter in McDonald’s

Colombian presidential candidate in 'critical condition' after attempted assassination

Graduate, 25, found stabbed to death in ditch as lies of killer, 84, exposed

Heartbroken family's horror after finding someone else's face during hospital post-mortem