John Kampfner is a British author, broadcaster and commentator. His latest book “In Search of Berlin” is published by Atlantic. He is a regular POLITICO columnist.
Every empire, real or imagined, builds monuments to progress.
The Nazi regime was developing a colossal science center as part of Hitler’s great Germania project for Berlin, only for war to intervene. It was buried in rubble under an artificial hill, where the victorious Allies eventually built a listening post instead.
In 2010, the Skolkovo Foundation built a glistening tech hub in the west of Moscow, as the Kremlin’s answer to Silicon Valley. Much of it now lies empty, with the war in Ukraine and economic sanctions putting paid to that dream.
Political power has been projected through science since the time of the ancients. But when scholars’ ability to work freely is threatened, they depart — as happened under Nazi rule, during the Soviet period and, in recent years, as President Vladimir Putin has consolidated his stranglehold over the Russian Federation.
Over the 20th and early 21st century, most of these scholars fled to the U.S. — a land that encouraged research without fear or favor. No matter its other failings, people from all over the world flocked there to take up opportunities at unrivaled universities. But now, thanks to President Donald Trump and his rapid-fire assault on the country’s higher education institutions, a reverse brain drain has begun.
And much of it is headed for the continent he seemingly abhors — Europe.
These scholars aren’t leaving just out of choice. As funding is summarily removed, home-grown scholars and researchers are finding themselves out of jobs, and entire departments are closing. Meanwhile, foreign academics, many who have made the U.S. their home, are being kicked out or refused entry, often on spurious grounds, or are in fear it will happen to them.
Margaret McFall-Ngai, a biochemist at the California Institute of Technology, described the situation as “grim and getting grimmer.” Highlighting one of many cases, she spoke of “an American student who is amazing in every way, but the universities are either closing their programs for this year or are trimming down dramatically, so she has nowhere to go. I sent her CV to colleagues in Europe, and she’ll be heading over to Max-Planck in Germany to do her graduate work,” she said.
And this isn’t an isolated incident. Of the 690 postgraduate researchers who responded to a poll in the publication Nature, 548 said they were considering leaving the U.S. One even responded: “This is my home, I really love my country, but a lot of my mentors have been telling me to get out, right now.”
Moreover, as McFall-Ngai pointed out, there are countless stories of international students frightened to leave the U.S.: “I have grad students and postdocs who are Slovenian, Belgian, Portuguese, French, Austrian, Mexican, Chinese and Irish.” Several, she said, wanted to go on vacation to see their families, “but they were told they would not be able to re-enter the U.S. if they left.”
So far, firings have taken place at institutions including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Geological Survey and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The National Institutes of Health — the world’s largest funder of biomedical research — was forced to jettison 1,200 employees and put grant reviews on hold, essentially turning off funding for labs. And as the cuts are coming, some federal agencies have been required to remove terms deemed unacceptably “woke,” such as diversity, gender and climate science from their websites.
But for Europeans and Canadians, still reeling from the open contempt the Trump administration holds them in, revenge is a dish best served cold.
Thirteen EU member countries, including France and Germany, have already written to Commissioner for Startups, Research and Innovation Ekaterina Zakharieva, urging increased funding and infrastructure to attract migrating scientists. And French Minister of Higher Education and Research Philippe Baptiste called for a “swift and robust response” to the “collective madness” of these decisions.
Several universities across Europe have gone on a recruitment drive, finding new pockets of funding to bring in specific individuals. France’s Aix Marseille University earmarked €15 million for 15 three-year positions as part of its new Safe Place for Science program, and the university says it’s receiving a dozen applications a day from “scientific asylum seekers.”
Vrije Universiteit Brussel announced 12 positions for international researchers “with a specific focus on American scholars.” The Pasteur Institute in Paris noted it was working to recruit experts in fields such as infectious diseases and origins of disease. And the vice-chancellor of Cambridge University said they are “certainly organizing” for potential hires from the U.S.
Similarly, Patrick Cramer, president of the Max-Planck Institute in Berlin, described the U.S. as “a new talent pool.” He said he already had several names on his list that “brought a twinkle” to his eye — especially those involved in artificial intelligence.
But the safe havens aren’t just confined to Europe: Australia, for one, is looking at fast-track visas for the best and brightest. And the most beckoning destination will likely be Canada, given its proximity to the U.S. in terms of both distance and culture.
During Trump’s first term, there was much talk of Americans fleeing north, but the numbers remained small. This time, however, the outflow is likely to be in earnest, including not just formal academics but also journalists, activists, and anyone who might feel threatened or unable to operate freely.
One of the first to announce his move was Timothy Snyder, one of the best-known experts on authoritarianism, who has left Yale for the University of Toronto. Snyder has described Canada as “the Ukraine of North America,” with Trump’s America looming over the border.
But while fellow academics aren’t begrudging the welcome given to new arrivals, some are expressing concern about the money that’ll be diverted from existing budgets. Universities in Canada and many European countries have had to make financial cuts for several years now. And some might come to resent the star status given to the new cohort from overseas — as happened in the U.S. in the 1930s and after World War II.
However, it’s important to remember that in fleeing to America, those academics vastly improved the quality of the work at their institutions, as well as the status of their newly adopted country.
That legacy is now going up in smoke, thanks to a White House that appears hell-bent on destroying not just economic and political paradigms, but a higher education system that really did make America great — though seemingly not for long.