Meet novice scientists planning to leave the United States

Reductions in funding, reduction of opportunities and growing uncertainty have made life difficult for international graduate students living in the United States.

The stem cell biologist, who has spent the last 14 years in the United States, is one of a growing number of early-stage scientists who are considering leaving the country.

Under the administration of President Donald Trump, international scientists in the United States, especially at the beginning of their careers, face difficult conditions, including the termination of grants, threats of visa cancellation and reduction of employment opportunities.

A scientist who asked to remain anonymous because he fears that his immigration status may be canceled does not want to leave the United States. "I wanted to stay here, and I wanted to take advantage of the fact that these great schools can provide great opportunities for really good science," he says. But he believes that the changes caused by the Trump administration mean that there will not be enough funding or graduate students to start a new laboratory. His best option is to leave the country and go to Europe, he says.

He is not alone. In May, during a small survey of 378 early-stage scientists conducted by the National Doctoral Association (NPA), 44% said that their work was threatened by the actions of the Trump administration. And in a survey of Nature readers in March, more than 800 graduate students and graduate students said that they were considering the possibility of leaving the country as a result of violations in science. The readers' survey was self-selected and was not a representative sample of American researchers.

The best place

Since the end of World War II, the United States has invested heavily in scientific research. This funding has attracted scientists from all over the world and created a diverse scientific network on which research and development in the United States is based today.

It was a scientific power plant that attracted a cell biologist from Canada to the United States in 2022 for a PhD position in New York. But between the reduction in funding and the disappearance of career opportunities, says the scientist who wanted to remain anonymous, the cost of staying in the United States begins to outweigh their attractiveness. She is looking for teacher positions in Canada and Australia. Funding for the launch of the laboratory is usually less in these countries than in the United States, but career prospects seem more stable, she says.

Under Trump, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) tried to reduce the amount they pay for research overhead costs, also called indirect costs, from about 40-70% to 15%. Universities use overhead costs for research to cover utility costs, insurance and other costs that support research. But payments can also cover the salaries of graduate students and full-time scientists, says Caroline Wagner, a science and technical policy specialist at Ohio State University in Columbus. As a result, the jobs of novice scientists will be reduced to balance budgets, says Wagner. So far, the NIH and NSF's attempts have been blocked by the courts. NIH filed an appeal.

Limited future

The prospects for future financing look gloomy. So far, about 2,900 NIH grants and 1,600 NSF grants have been canceled under the Trump administration, although about 900 NIH grants may be restored after a federal judge's ruling. On May 2, the Trump administration issued a budget proposal for fiscal year 2026, which will reduce about 40% of NIH spending and more than half of NSF, although recent Congressional steps may prevent huge cuts.

If the budget cuts occur, there will probably be a loss of jobs, which may leave visa-holding scientists with few options. Scientists in early careers are usually issued visas, which depend on their employment status. If someone's position is terminated, they must find another employer to whom they can transfer their status within 30 or 60 days, depending on the type of visa, says Brendan Delaney, an immigration lawyer based in Bethesda, Maryland.

Finding a job now will be difficult for researchers holding a visa, says Delaney, who works with international scientists at the NPA. Even having a job is no longer necessarily a guarantee - in May, the new administration announced a proposal to revoke visas for Chinese students.

In the May NPA survey, 39% of respondents were holders of temporary visas. "We see growing interest from graduate students, not from the United States, who are concerned about their visa in the future," says Mengze Lee, vice chairman of the NPA International Committee.