TL;DR
Researchers from U.S. universities and federal agencies have moved to Finland, the U.K. and Australia amid delayed grants and concerns about funding and research policy, according to a MedPage Today report. The scale of the movement is not known, but cited data point to changes in researchers’ plans and departures among recent physics PhD graduates.
Scientists from U.S. universities and federal agencies have taken research jobs in Finland, the United Kingdom and Australia amid delayed or uncertain federal grants and concerns about the direction of U.S. research policy, according to a MedPage Today report published Oct. 19. The report describes individual departures and broader indicators of changing career plans, but says the nationwide scale of the movement cannot be measured with available data.
Among those who left is Halley Froehlich, a marine scientist who moved from the University of California, Santa Barbara, to the University of Helsinki with her husband and daughter. She studies how climate change affects fish, shellfish and seaweed used as food. The report says she was recruited through a Research Council of Finland initiative and has five years of guaranteed funding totaling about $3 million.
Christine Stawitz left a job at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration last year to become a research software engineer at the University of Birmingham in England. She told MedPage Today that she felt NOAA no longer aligned with her values after being asked to remove references to climate change and diversity, equity and inclusion from websites. Those are her account of the events and reasons for leaving.
Biologists James Letts and Maria Maldonado, who had worked at UC Davis, moved to Monash University in Australia. The couple, originally from Canada and Argentina, respectively, had spent more than a decade doing science in the U.S. Letts told the outlet that uncertainty around grants, including a stalled award that led them to lay off a staff scientist, helped prompt their decision. The report also cites an April coalition report finding that more than half of U.S. states had lost scientists to recruitment programs abroad; it does not provide a national count of researchers who left.
The Cost of Losing Research Talent
Departures can affect more than the careers of individual scientists. Research teams may lose experienced investigators, and stalled grants can disrupt work and employment for students and staff. The examples in the report show how funding uncertainty can shape where research happens, though they do not establish how many projects or jobs have been lost nationally.
The issue also carries reputational stakes. Tobin Smith of the Association of American Universities said research leaders report losing top faculty. Stawitz said the United States’ image as a destination for international researchers has been damaged. Those assessments are attributed opinions; the report says the scale of any reputational loss is difficult to quantify. The United States remains a major research center, and other countries do not have enough capacity to absorb every researcher who might consider leaving.
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How Funding Concerns Built
The report describes a shift that began as federal research funding and policy became less predictable. It says the Trump administration disrupted the federal grant process and sought greater political influence over which projects receive funding. The White House offered a different explanation: spokesperson Liz Huston said the administration is ending waste and funding what it considers real science.
Several indicators cited in the report suggest concern among researchers, but they measure different things. An American Institute of Physics account says U.S. physics PhD graduates in 2025 left the country at the highest rate in 30 years. A separate survey of early-career biomedical scientists, conducted last March, found they were about 20 percentage points less likely to say they would stay in the U.S. than they recalled feeling six months earlier. These findings do not provide a single, comparable count of researchers leaving because of funding cuts.
“You can almost talk to any vice president for research at a university and they will tell you of one or two top faculty that they’ve lost.”
— Tobin Smith, senior vice president for government relations and public policy at the Association of American Universities
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The National Scale Remains Unknown
There is no overall count in the report of scientists who have left the United States because of grant cuts or policy concerns. The cited state-level findings, career-intention survey and physics graduate data cover different groups and time periods, so they cannot be combined into a measure of a national talent exodus.
The report also notes that many researchers remain in the U.S., seek other funding or move into industry. It does not establish how many departures are directly caused by federal funding decisions rather than other factors, or how many scientists may return. The source material ends with a claim that the administration has cut or frozen up to $174 billion in federal funding, but provides no further breakdown or supporting detail for that figure.
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Funding Decisions and Further Departures
The next indicators to watch are whether federal grants resume on schedule, whether universities can replace lost or delayed support, and whether recruitment programs abroad continue attracting U.S.-based researchers. The report does not give a timeline for resolving the funding uncertainty or identify a government review that would produce a national count of departures.
Researchers’ choices may also become clearer as new academic appointments and funding commitments take effect. For now, the evidence presented points to specific moves and signs of concern, rather than a complete picture of how many scientists are leaving or what long-term effect the departures will have on U.S. research.
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Key Questions
Why are some researchers leaving the U.S.?
The researchers interviewed cited delayed or uncertain grants, concerns about future support, and, in some cases, disagreement with workplace or government policies. Their reasons differ, and the report does not establish one cause for all departures.
Where have the researchers in the report moved?
The report describes researchers taking positions in Finland, the United Kingdom and Australia, including at the University of Helsinki, the University of Birmingham and Monash University.
How many U.S. scientists have left?
The total is not known. The report says there is no way to quantify the overall change nationwide and cites several indicators that track different populations rather than a single national count.
Are all U.S. researchers leaving?
No. The report says many scientists are staying, looking for other research funding or moving into industry. It also notes that overseas institutions lack capacity to accommodate every American researcher who might seek a job abroad.
What has the White House said about federal research funding?
White House spokesperson Liz Huston said the administration is ending waste and is committed to keeping the U.S. a leader in scientific innovation by funding what it considers real science.
Source: rss
