7mo ago

Trump cuts threaten a ‘generation of scientists’ as many weigh leaving US

www.theguardian.com

Summary

Trump’s proposed cuts to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) threaten U.S. biomedical research, forcing many scientists to consider leaving the country.

A 7 February policy would slash NIH funding by two-thirds, though a federal judge has temporarily blocked it.

Researchers relying on these grants fear for their jobs, with some already exploring options abroad.

The cuts particularly impact neuroscience, diabetes, and bird flu research, while also dismantling DEI initiatives.

Many scientists warn of long-term consequences for innovation and global health collaboration.

Repurposed Headlines @lemm.ee

🍪CRUMBGRABBER🍪 @lemm.ee

7mo ago

It was not 6 inches.

www.theguardian.com /us-news/2025/feb/19/trump-nih-funding-scientists

News @lemmy.world

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7mo ago

Trump cuts threaten a ‘generation of scientists’ as many weigh leaving US

www.theguardian.com /us-news/2025/feb/19/trump-nih-funding-scientists

72 comments

Great! Leave the US and come prosper in Canada.
- Do not listen to him! Europe! Come to Europe! Great Benefits, long holidays and you can travel between multiple countries and temperature-zones. When staying in canada, you can only travel back to the US or take a plane to cross either one of the two biggest oceans to get anywhere. In Europe you can spend a decade without running out of places to go. Also: We love your brain. Please come to Europe!
  
  Just make Canada part of EU, then you don't have to choose!
  
  Don't listen to him!!! We'll pay you more 😉
  
  Does Europe need IT workers? Software engineers?
  
  Plus they've got stupid plugs
  
  My partner wants to go to Europe but I don't know what country or language.
- Problem is with the next generation of scientists. They can’t leave the country before they’ve made it.
  
  if there will be a next generation of scientists,
Ive been telling my university phd friends to not make any plans to go to the US. They said i was overreacting but changed plans anyways. Glad they didnt go.
So anyone has a good suggestion for countries that accept people with PhDs are are nice to different race of people (I have a mixed family). Lots of countries are starting to lean right so I'm a bit scared moving somewhere where I don't understand the native language since I saw how immigrants in US (and even people in their home country) like trump because they don't get the whole picture and only know news through multiple transfers and biases.
Even if the current administration goes back to what it was I feel like the attack on science and overall direction of the people's thoughts aren't going to change overnight and it might be hard living as a scientist.
- Academia seems to have largely settled on English. Most graduate programs I have heard of are taught in English even if it's not an official language of the host country.
  CERN was designed to stop the brain drain to the US after WWII. Hopefully Europe (the world) realizes the opportunity in front of them.
  
  Yeah, I have been hoping some countries would make lax immigration rules to capitalize on this situation. I know a lot of academics thinking of leaving, it's just a bit hard with a family compared to moving alone.
- Scotland/Ireland doesn’t seem to be shifting right! Not like elsewhere anyway.
  We have a weird dynamic in Glasgow where even our football hooligans are pro-Palestine and even showed up anti-blm marches (and chased them away).
  Several unis here, lots of Serbians, Italians, Spaniards in the faculty and is more diverse than many of the English towns that rioted.
  No riots here, we were doing this instead.
  https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/may/13/glasgow-residents-surround-and-block-immigration-van-from-leaving-street
  Pay will probably be shite comparatively and the weather is miserable but can’t fault it otherwise
  
  Glasgow seems cool, and I've read that they are implementing more walkable and pedestrian/cyclist-friendly infrastructure too (slowly... but that is more than most of North America).
  Some hope for humanity in that article.
- Swiss. Though it needs a while until you can get a pass.
  
  A B permit was easy to get. You need a job and that's pretty much it. After 5 years you can apply for a C permit. You can try to become a citizen after ten years but that's a different beast. I have nine years and three months to go. I played a game of DND with a Swiss, a Russian and an Argentinian(?) here. My kid goes to school with someone whose parents are brazilian and dutch who met in Australia. So, it's definitely possible.
- Norway is good if you get a job before moving. The weather, people, food and welcome is a bit cold, but life is good.
  
  Yeah, I've been thinking Norway and Netherlands/Finland as good option if we have to do Europe. I don't think the immigration policy is that open in those countries though. Do you have any knowledge about that?
  
  Food is cold?
- Ever been to Canada?
  
  I'm worried about Canada as well because of the proximity. And there is a bit of brown hate going on there as well. It would have been nice options otherwise for ease of move/visa.
- In academia, I would guess most Europeans consider race a social construct and not a lens through which one judges other people. Yes, we’re all leaning more and more right, unfortunately, but race is seldom a major part of what makes someone an Other. (But I do know it can be, my daughter-in-law is from Uganda). Outside academia… I would hope most Europeans are more informed than most trumpists.
Scientists usually are the smart people. And they are potentially the more mobile employees. Of course they will notice when the ship is sinking...
- they usually ditch long before that happens, remember when the usa was going through red scare, and started targeting chinese people, one of them fled to the CCP and was instrumental in chinas sudden transition to hydrogen bombs from fissionable bombs.
- Idk man. Have you been to rural America? They huff that shit still.
  
  The smell is similar to pigs shit too.
  
  Well they aren't likely to be the scientists, doctors, and other highly skilled intellectuals that other countries would gladly welcome as Ex-Americans.
Wow, that very randomly and suddenly reminds me that in Leiden, NL, they have a Bio-Science Park that is building mega lab after mega lab(Covid really shifted this bio park into sixth gear), with some plots still left to fill, right next to 2 highways! Schiphol is just a train stop away! If the price of living and housing won't deter you, nothing will!
Bonus fact: I used to jam riiiiiight there in the top right appartement of the block that's starts lowest in the picture with my band Karateklit. Not anymore, we have a new place :)
- Highways in the Netherlands? You mean a bike highway? /s
Let it happen! We in europe welcome them with open arms!
Hey remember the brain drain US caused Canada for the past few decades? Would be nice to get some back
consider how bad the job market it is for some stems before pandemic, its only getting worst anyways. some state university schools near my are cutting back alot, increasing tuition prices, reducing classes, and instructors some schools are considering combining with other nearby schools. theres also additional problems at the MS and PHD levels as well. Universities are holding onto tenured professors like they cant let them go, but not providing a path for graduates, or or adjuncts.
i checked my universities subreddit a few months back it was really bad. covid mainly made everyone take classes online, which caused students inability to learn anything, because you cant really focus on a subject when its just a powerpoint. I had a prof way before covid, and she only did biochemistry on powerpoint, and it was pretty much useless info since theres was very little learned very little. and her test questions are not even remotely close to what we learned on her lectures.
Canada needs to recognise this opportunity and invest in science and healthcare. Relatedly, Canada needs to vote out the Conservatives provincially and federally.
The title doesn't need the "of scientists" part.
I have friends who are in scientific research and 100% of them from multiple institutions are affected by Trump. Every single one.
One is out of a job in early Jan. The others over the next 3 months. It's really bad.
- I would say I'm sorry, but the part of the world I am from has been experiencing austerity, imposed by the USA (or the minions thereof).
Bring on the brain drain. Death to America.
You cannot just lose just one generation of scientists.
According to how some here treat russian people these scientists shouldn't be welcomed anywhere since the majority of americans voted for trump.
- The majority of Americans did not vote for Trump. You can do the math.
  -63.9% of eligible voters voted in 2024.
  -48.9% of those voted for Trump.
  Source: https://www.npr.org/2024/12/27/nx-s1-5222570/2024-politics-recap
  
  Ya you’re right. Statistically most people never bothered to vote, which makes them complicit and worse than actual Trump voters.
  Yall can pretend to be innocent bystanders. Instead I think you’re a big piece of the problem. Maybe if you actually voted we wouldn’t have Trump.

72 comments