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Three-quarters of American researchers who responded to a recent Nature survey said they’re considering jobs abroad—mostly in Canada and Europe—in light of President Donald Trump’s sweeping changes to federal science policy.
Since retaking the White House in late January, the Trump administration has issued numerous executive orders—including several now facing legal challenges—cutting billions from federal agencies that support university research.
Over the past month, the National Institutes of Health has terminated scores of research grants that “no longer effectuate agency priorities,” according to the letters researchers have received. The agency also deemed some of the grants “antithetical to the scientific inquiry,” including those focused on vaccines and health issues affecting people who are Black, Indigenous, LGBTQ+ or living in poverty. And many other federally funded researchers remain uncertain about the future of their projects.
Nature received 1,650 responses to the survey it asked its readers to complete last month. Of those, early-career researchers were more likely than those with established careers to report considering looking for work elsewhere, including 79 percent of postgraduate researchers and 75 percent of Ph.D. students.
“The PIs [principal investigators] I’ve spoken to feel they’ll be able to weather this storm,” one respondent said. “As early-career investigators, we don’t have that luxury—this is a critical moment in our careers, and it’s been thrown into turmoil in a matter of weeks.”
But a minority of respondents said they have no intention of relocating.
“US academia has the best research facilities,” one person wrote. “I won’t go anywhere, this is ridiculous.”
