The Dispatch
Research attraction
Funding uncertainty and tighter visa controls are causing a noticeable shift away from the US for academic researchers.
By Seb Murray
"There is reason to fear that these figures will fall further without a US government course correction."
"Across Europe, universities are moving quickly to recruit US-based researchers."
"The shift away from the US as the default destination is not limited to senior academics."
"Universities need to invest more in research and give faculty the time to do this."
In brief
- Global researchers are increasingly bypassing the US as funding freezes and visa hurdles end its era as the undisputed leader in academic innovation.
- Competitors like Canada are "doubling down" with billion-dollar recruitment initiatives while US international scholar growth has plummeted from 10% to just 3.5%.
- To halt this "gradual erosion," experts urge the US to restore funding stability, simplify visas, and prioritise international collaboration to protect its research capacity.
The US is no longer an automatic choice for academic researchers deciding where to work. Funding cuts and freezes, visa uncertainty and tighter postdoctoral hiring are narrowing opportunities for researchers in the US, while rival countries actively court the same talent.
“The risk is less about a sudden decline and more about gradual erosion if we become complacent,” says Jason Lane, a higher education policy expert and Visiting Professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
“Changes in visa policy, geopolitical tensions and uncertainty around research funding can signal to students and scholars that the US is becoming a less predictable partner,” he adds.
These shifts are especially visible in fields such as artificial intelligence, where researchers are highly mobile and funding-dependent.
Other countries are acting quickly. Canada and several European governments are trying to lure researchers by offering generous funding and support as the US pulls back.
But already, some movement away from the US is becoming evident. Growth in the number of international research scholars at US universities slowed to 3.5 percent last year, down from 10 percent the year before, according to international education network NAFSA.
“There is reason to fear that these figures will fall further without a US government course correction,” says Rachel Banks, NAFSA’s Senior Director for Public Policy and Legislative Strategy.
A sustained outflow of researchers would weaken US research capacity and affect where new discoveries are made. How quickly that talent moves – and where it concentrates – will influence where future research capacity is built.
One reason is rising uncertainty in the US research system. Federal research funding is now volatile, with some grants frozen, delayed or left in limbo under the Donald Trump administration.
This has led some universities to respond by tightening budgets and slowing hiring, which is unfortunately curbing opportunities for researchers, particularly in junior roles.
Professor Lane says: “Funding volatility and political uncertainty are pushing many institutions to become more risk-averse and more internally focused at precisely the moment they need to collaborate and innovate.
“We’re seeing institutions delay investments, narrow partnerships, pull out of certain countries and prioritize short-term stability over long-term strategic positioning.”
Few are anticipating the sudden collapse of the US research system, which remains world class, but some do warn that it is being weakened over time. And that weakening is being noticed abroad, prompting other countries to try to lure researchers away from the US.
Canada has moved early to recruit researchers as funding conditions in the US tighten. In December last year, the country announced a C$1.7bn (US$1.2bn) Global Impact+ Research Talent Initiative aimed at attracting talent from abroad.
The programme aims to recruit up to 1,000 researchers over the next 12 years, by providing multi-year funding to recruit senior researchers, while also allocating cash for research infrastructure and doctoral students relocating from abroad.
“As other countries constrain academic freedoms and undermine cutting-edge research, Canada is investing in – and doubling down on – science,” Mélanie Joly, Canada’s Industry Minister, said in a statement.
The scale of the initiative suggests that this is not short-term hiring in response to US cuts, but a long-term effort to build research capacity.
Canada is not acting alone. Across Europe, universities are moving quickly to recruit US-based researchers unsettled by the Trump administration’s funding cuts and policy uncertainty.
Top schools including the University of Cambridge in the UK say they are gearing up to hire researchers from the US. France has asked universities to identify priority areas for recruitment, while the European Research Council has signalled that the continent is open to researchers whose work is under pressure elsewhere.
Other countries are “investing aggressively” in research infrastructure and talent attraction, according to Professor Lane at the University of Illinois. “Global competition for students, faculty and discovery is intensifying,” he says.
Speed is becoming a factor in parts of Europe’s recruitment efforts. Some universities in Sweden say they are considering announcing vacancies earlier than usual and offering short-term sabbaticals to give US researchers a place to land. These temporary roles allow researchers to move without immediately committing to permanent posts.
Fanta Aw, Chief Executive of the NAFSA, says: “We are navigating one of the most dynamic moments in international education, driven in no small part by shifts in US visa and immigration policy. The ripple effects of these policy changes are being felt across campuses and communities around the world.”
The shift away from the US as the default destination is not limited to senior academics. Data on postgraduate students and early-career researchers show that international mobility patterns are already changing.
In the US, new international student enrolment has fallen sharply. Analysis by NAFSA shows a 17 percent decline in new international students in fall 2025, a drop it estimates cost the US economy more than $1.1bn.
NAFSA links the slowdown to practical barriers. “Factors driving those declines are believed to be a visa interview pause in early summer of 2025, issues with visa appointment availability, downward visa issuance trends and travel bans affecting international students and scholars from certain countries,” says Banks, the senior NAFSA director.
Policy uncertainty has added to the problem, making it harder for students and early-career researchers to plan multi-year study or research stays.
Rather than stepping back altogether, many scholars are choosing different destinations. Survey data cited by NAFSA shows postgraduate enrolments increasing in Europe and Asia.
Analysts also point to growing interest in a wider group of destinations beyond the traditional English-speaking “big four”, including countries across Europe, Asia and the Middle East.
“The United States must adopt more proactive policies to attract and retain the world’s best and brightest, and recognise that post-study work opportunities are essential to our standing as the top destination for global talent,” says Aw.
“Otherwise, international students will increasingly choose to go elsewhere – to the detriment of our economy, excellence in research and innovation and global competitiveness and engagement.”
For universities, retaining talent is not about hiring a few star researchers. It depends on whether funding, visas, workloads and research support are stable enough for teams to stay and grow.
Collaboration is one way institutions are managing risk. Professor Lane says that in a volatile funding environment, universities are expanding partnerships and joining consortia to share risk and opportunity. “In a more uncertain environment, collaboration is becoming a strategy for stability and growth,” he adds.
Working conditions are another pressure point. Natasha Ridge, Executive Director of the Sheikh Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi Foundation for Policy Research in the United Arab Emirates, says efforts to build a global higher-education hub will fall short unless universities invest in attracting and retaining faculty, not just students.
“In order to truly be a global hub, it is necessary for the UAE to not only attract the best students but also to attract and retain the best faculty and this is where the key challenge lies,” she says.
In practice, that requires greater investment in research and more time for faculty to pursue it.
Ridge says universities that focus primarily on teaching risk undermining their ambitions to attract and retain strong academic staff. “Universities need to invest more in research and give faculty the time to do this, rather than the existing focus on teaching only,” she adds.
Those pressures are not confined to individual universities. The US remains the world’s leading research system. But that position depends on stable funding, predictable policy and the ability to plan. When those conditions weaken, researchers become more open to alternatives.
Universities still have room to respond. Institutions that collaborate, reduce administrative friction and protect time and resources for research can remain competitive. But delays risk compounding existing pressures.
As Professor Lane says: “The US remains the world’s most powerful higher education and research ecosystem, but that leadership is slipping and depends on global talent mobility, international research collaboration and sustained public investment in science and innovation.”
The issue is not current strength, but whether the conditions that sustain it can be maintained.