The Trump administration’s planned cuts to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) not only threaten essential biomedical research in the US, but the livelihoods of researchers – and some are seriously considering leaving the country.
A 27 January memo from the Office of Management and Budget instructed federal agencies to pause funding allocations to ensure they serve Donald Trump’s goals, including “ending ‘wokeness’ and the weaponization of government, promoting efficiency in government, and Making America Healthy Again”.
On 7 February, the administration implemented a policy that would cut NIH funding to research institutions by over two-thirds. A federal judge has since blocked the cuts – for now.
If Europeans wouldn’t sleep on this opportunity, we could massively improve our science recruiting. Related scientific paper of what getting the fired scientists from an autocracy can do to your science system: https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/aer.104.10.3222
Our loss might be Europe’s gain. Unless they get a right wing problem, too.