Trump 2.0 has embarked on a frontal assault on science, universities and research institutions in the US following the playbook deployed by authoritarians over time and place. Maximum disruption within the US and globally is the signature of this administration.
The attack is both ideological and material. Large numbers of researchers in the 500 colleges and institutes that receive funding from the National Institute of Health (NIH), the world’s premier institution in health research, found that their grants were cancelled at the stroke of a pen because their research no longer met NIH priorities. Research on vaccines, women’s health and racial minorities was particularly targeted. Even those NIH grants that were not cancelled suffered sizeable cuts that will impact research in critical areas of health by cutting back on laboratory facilities and overheads.
Research on climate is another victim of the Trump cull. Hundreds of employees at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration were fired without notice.
Individual universities, especially elite colleges, find themselves directly threatened. The administration has used investigations into anti-Semitism to remove billions of dollars of federal grants and contracts from individual universities. Columbia found itself in the eye of the storm after it was stripped of $400 million of federal funding in March. The university caved in to the demands of the administration in subsequent negotiations. In early April, the administration froze $1 billion in funding for Cornell and $790 million for Northwestern.
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To date Harvard is the first of the elite colleges to push back against Trump. Harvard’s president Alan Garber declared that the administration could have no role in governance, hiring or teaching in a private institution. In response, the Trump administration froze $2.2 billion in federal funds and is now threatening to remove its tax-exempt status. Harvard, with an endowment of $50 billion-plus, may have the firepower to resist but there is no doubt that a war of attrition has opened up between Trump and elite institutions in the US.
The US Student Visa system is under considerable strain and individual students are being deported. Others are advised not to leave the country in case they are not allowed back.
Traditionally, the US was a magnet for the best and brightest, attracted by excellent research facilities, resources and superb faculty. This is a major source of US soft power and contributes greatly to US prosperity, technological prowess and its status as the leading science and technology power in the world.
However, Trump’s determination to reset research priorities and campus culture is having a chilling effect. Some 1,200 researchers of 1,600 who responded to a recent poll in Nature indicated that they were considering leaving the US. Europe and Canada were the most favoured destinations. These numbers are small but, if the attack on science continues apace, these numbers might morph into a “brain drain”. Already, some high-profile professors have relocated from Yale to Toronto.
As cogently argued in the Draghi Report, Europe is challenged by technological and productivity deficits. The most effective response to address these challenges is to enhance research and innovation in Europe. The Trump assault on science creates once in a lifetime opportunities for Ireland and Europe. Already there are multiple responses emerging across the continent. Words such as “safe haven” and “scientific asylum” are commonly used.
French universities are very active. Aix-Marseille university was one of the first to launch a “Safe Place for Science Programme” with $16 million to recruit up to 15 scholars. This number may appear small, but the injection of 15 outstanding scholars has transformative potential for any university.
The renowned Pasteur Institute in Paris intends to recruit expertise in infectious diseases. Likewise, universities in the Netherlands and Belgium supported by government have programmes designed to attract scholars from the US. All over Europe, governments – including the Irish Government, research institutes, cities and universities are responding to the opportunity created by Trump’s attack on science.
The EU Commissioner for Research and Innovation, Ekaterina Zaharieva, received a letter from 13 EU member states urging the European Commission to devise a strategy in response to the current international context. Although the US is not mentioned explicitly, the intent could not be clearer: attract US top talent. The commissioner is contemplating a law that will enshrine academic freedom as a foundational value in the EU.
The flagship EU research programme, the European Research Council (ERC), has already doubled the funding available to scientists who relocate to Europe. The EU has an important role to play in co-ordinating member state efforts so that Europe is seen as the destination rather than individual member states.
To attract talent, Europe will have to do more than open short-term uncoordinated programmes. It must create the conditions for top scientists to move freely within the EU. A dedicated science visa programme would be a good place to start so that scientists operating in one EU member state are free to collaborate with centres of excellence in other states without facing bureaucratic obstacles.
A strategy is required for scholars across the academic life-cycle – early career, mid-career and senior scholars – who have different needs and will respond to different incentives. Senior and mid-career scholars may want to move an entire research team, which will require packages involving multiple hires and lab facilities. Accommodation may also be needed, given the costs of moving country. All of this will need more funding, but the payback to Europe would be sizeable in enhancing research and innovation so vital to technological development and productivity.
During and after the second World War, the US benefited enormously from the migration of European scientists and scholars. There will be no better time to reverse the trend.
Prof Brigid Laffan is chancellor of the University of Limerick and emeritus professor at Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies at the European University Institute
