[By Guancha Observer Network, Ruan Jiaqi]

According to a report by The New York Times on March 3, as the Trump administration in the United States cuts research funding and tightens immigration policies, China and Europe have launched a talent recruitment drive, vying to provide financial support and career stability for top scientists to attract talent.

Several top American scientists warned that the "series of moves" by the Trump administration has caused serious talent loss, jeopardizing the long-standing scientific research model in the U.S. and its leading position in relevant fields.

U.S. media cited an analysis by the journal Nature, stating that since President Trump took office, the number of Chinese and European scholars applying for American graduate programs or postdoctoral positions has plummeted sharply, even coming to a standstill; meanwhile, the number of American postdoctoral fellows and graduate students applying for overseas positions has surged significantly.

Interest among U.S. scientists in overseas positions is growing. Screenshot from Nature's website

The New York Times reported that America's research advantage stems from a unique system built in the 1950s: the federal government expanded the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and established the National Science Foundation (NSF), promoting public-private partnerships to fund scientific discoveries, thereby establishing the United States' leadership in technology fields and making it an irresistible destination for scientists worldwide.

This system also long relied on international talent, with at least half of those holding doctorates in defense industries, engineering, computing, and life sciences being born overseas. However, now, multiple impacts such as significant federal budget cuts, tightened immigration policies, and ideological purges at universities are undermining this talent foundation.

Data from Nature Careers, a global scientific job platform under Springer Nature, shows that from January to March 2025, the number of U.S. scientists applying for overseas positions increased by 32% compared to the same period in 2024, while the number of domestic users browsing overseas positions on the site increased by 35%.

In March alone, as the U.S. government further intensified its budget cuts for the research sector, the website traffic surged by 68% compared to the same month last year.

Another independent survey conducted by Nature’s news team also revealed that 75% of surveyed American researchers "desire to leave the U.S."

Data further shows that in the first quarter of this year, the number of times U.S. users viewed job advertisements for Chinese scientific positions and applied for them on “Nature Careers” increased by 30% and 20%, respectively, compared to the same period last year.

James Richards, head of Springer Nature's Global Talent Solutions team, pointed out, "The sharp decline in the volume of U.S. positions being viewed and applied for, along with the concurrent rise in outflow trends, is unprecedented."

European scholars have stopped applying for U.S. research positions, and Chinese scholars show declining interest in U.S. positions. Screenshot from Nature's website

Ardem Patapoutian, winner of the 2021 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, an Armenian-American molecular biologist and neuroscientist born in Lebanon, has nearly half of his lab’s graduate students and postdoctoral fellows from other countries. But now, he finds that the interest of overseas applicants has plummeted.

"Not only international students, but the entire system is at a standstill," he told U.S. media, "because uncertainty prevents you from planning. Funding freezes or cuts have caused immense chaos."

Like many lab directors, he dares not hire new postdoctoral fellows at the moment, "Everyone is striving to maintain the funding for existing personnel."

Richard Huganir, director of the Department of Neuroscience at Johns Hopkins University, feels more anxious: his graduate students and postdoctoral fellows are returning to China and South Korea to look for jobs.

According to Huganir, there are 100 graduate students and postdoctoral fellows in the 36 labs within his department, about 30% of whom are international students, "For us, this is equivalent to losing 30% of our workforce. They are indispensable parts of the U.S. scientific system, and losing them will be devastating for American science."

Beyond talent loss, Huganir also worries that the U.S. will become increasingly isolated in the international scientific community.

Because foreign scientists are unwilling to come to the U.S., he had to cancel an international conference originally scheduled at Johns Hopkins University; the organizers considered moving the conference to Oxford, UK, but later found that international students in the U.S. also refused to attend abroad due to concerns about not being able to return to the U.S.

Marcia McNutt, president of the National Academy of Sciences, which advises the government on science policy, expressed concern without reservation, "We are embarking on a major restructuring experiment of America's innovation engine, with China becoming the control group. China will not cut its research budget in half."

McNutt sighed that other countries offer more stable career development opportunities for scientists at the beginning of their careers, saying, "They will recruit the best, brightest, and most experienced talents globally."

This article is an exclusive contribution from the Observer Network and cannot be reprinted without permission.

Original source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7511912690541953577/

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