Three -quarters of US scientists said that Trump administration is thinking of abandoning the country following the interruption of scientific programs by the Government Efficiency Department.
Recently, the administration has dismissed researchers at the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Ministry of Health and Human Services It is expected to dismiss 10,000 workers. The agency controls the centers of disease control and prevention and food and drug administration.
There were also great cuts for financing. NASA terminates $ 420 million contracts that are not compatible with the priorities of the White House. National Health Institutes are cutting grants for Covid research and the Environmental Protection Agency is reported to be targeted for environmental grants. Los Angeles Times. Last week government at least 68 grants ended According to a government website, 46 institutions with approximately $ 40 million.
These actions and more have made people feel uncertain in scientific fields and led to country -wide protests.
Survey conducted by the magazine Nature The concern among scientists was especially evident among career researchers. More than 1,200 scientists responded to the survey. 548 of the 690 graduate researchers who answered said they are thinking of leaving. 340 Ph.D. Students who participated in the survey said the same thing.
“I don’t want to leave, but what is an alternative?” An graduate researcher responded in the biomedical field.
“This is my home – I really love my country,” he said. Nature. “But most of my mentors say me to go out right now.”
Following the decision of the Trump administration to encourage the US International Development Agency, he lost his research support and death. In the short term, his advisor was able to secure emergency funds to support him.
The Trump administration said that the interest of interest will not be a priority or focus of global food systems. “If I want to work in that area, I will have to find another place that gives priority.”
Some international participants who move to the United States to work planning to return home. A researcher said that international universities have seen this as an opportunity once ”to hire.
For others, the future is not so clear, but the purpose of “everywhere that supports science”. Many felt like there was no option.
“I am a faculty and I want to stay as much as I can [to] Support my laboratory and my students, but if it is significantly cut, we may not have the option to stay in the United States.
“I am a transsexual and one or two fists make it impossible to be a suitable option in this country,” he said.
However, there are some waiting.
“The US Academy has the best research facilities,” he wrote.
Im I won’t go anywhere, it’s ridiculous, ”he wrote.
Reporting from Associated Press
