The Trump administration’s spending cuts and restrictions on foreign students are triggering a brain drain — and American scientists are panicking.
America’s science pipeline is drying up, and countries like China are seizing the opportunity to surge ahead.
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.
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.
US scientists are in a panic as a result of the Trump administration’s spending cuts and restrictions on international students, which are causing a brain drain.
The reason it matters: U. A. The fears of the researchers are emerging. Countries like China are grabbing the chance to advance as America’s scientific pipeline is drying up.
Marcia McNutt, president of the National Academy of Sciences, says, “This is such a race for being the science powerhouse that you never fully recover.”. “You could speed back up to sixty, but you can’t make up for the years you were stuck while the others were tearing ahead. “”.
Driving the news: According to The New York Times, the National Science Foundation, which provides funding for a large portion of basic science research in the United States, is already awarding grants at the slowest rate in 35 years.
The “big, beautiful bill” might potentially lead to more cuts to science. “.”.
The administration’s efforts to restrict the number of international students studying in the United States are also being eagerly anticipated by universities. S. .
Harvard is resisting, but it may be completely prohibited from hiring people abroad. Chinese students studying in “critical fields” will have their visas “aggressively revoked,” according to the Trump administration. “.
By the numbers: Other nations are actively hiring from the United States, while American universities are withdrawing offers to incoming PhD students. S. . laboratory spaces.
In order to determine where scientists are seeking employment, the journal Nature examined data from its jobs platform. The number of U.S. citizens increased during the first few months of the Trump administration. S. Compared to the same period in 2024, the percentage of job seekers in Canada (+41 percent), Europe (+32 percent), China (+20 percent), and other Asian countries (+39 percent) increased.
U. A. Canada received 13 percent fewer applications for jobs than Europe, which received 41 percent fewer.
An example would be Aix-Marseille University in France, which garnered media attention for allocating millions of dollars for U. S. After being inundated with applications, scientists closed their application window.
According to Kate Zernike of The New York Times, a Chinese email offered American Nobel laureate Ardem Patapoutian 20 years of funding if he moved his lab after his federal grant was frozen. He declined.
This is a once-in-a-century opportunity to gain brain power, according to a brief from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.
The opposing viewpoint: The White House contends that its systemic reforms will restore public confidence and usher in a golden age of science. Additionally, President Trump has proposed that American applicants could fill the vacancies left by the rejection of international applicants.
This isn’t totally realistic, however, according to professors.
Chris Impey, an astronomer at the University of Arizona, states, “There’s no way you would fill that hole with local applicants of comparable quality in hard sciences, in astronomy and physics and computer science, for example.”.
What to watch: “The hit to young people is at the center of the whole enterprise,” Impey says. “The optimistic part of us thinks science is strong enough to outlast one administration, and for a while I thought that.”. Pulling the rug out from under the entire situation is what it is. “.
According to him, it’s more than just the exodus of current talent. Current high school and college students who are considering a career in research may change their minds. “Smart kids are capable of many things. They don’t need to study science. “.
“If you went into graduate school in the fall of this year, by the time you get your PhD, this madness may be over,” McNutt says she tells her students. When your new PhD arrives, you’re prepared to fill the void. “..”.
