Brain Drain: Talented Young People Are Abandoning Plans to Become Scientists as White House Undermines the Entire Career

As the Trump administration continues its crusade against the institutions of science, the careers of would-be researchers in the US are on the line.

President Donald Trump has suggested slashing NASA's science directorate's budget in half, which could deal a fatal blow to dozens of future science missions and greatly undermine the United States' leadership in space, experts warn.

Trump's outright anti-science agenda could have devastating knock-on effects for anybody looking to make a career in the sciences, preventing the next generation of researchers from flourishing — and likely curtailing decades of cutting-edge research that long distinguished the US on the world stage.

Researchers are already looking for greener pastures as job opportunities dry up in the US. The troubling trend is kickstarting a brain drain that could massively undercut the nation's supremacy in fields ranging from medicine to biology to physical sciences, as the New York Times reports.

Meanwhile, the US has shut down its borders to some of the brightest minds, denying visas to Chinese students pursuing educations.

With grant money drying up fast, researchers are moving abroad, enticed by the promise of building out a career in a politically more stable place. China and Europe, in particular, are looking to swipe up an immense amount of talent as the number of graduate student or postdoctoral positions in the US continue to crater.

"We are embarking on a major experiment in restructuring the innovative engine in America, and China is the control," geophysicist and the president of the National Academy of Sciences, Marcia McNutt, told the NYT. "China is not going to cut its research budget in half."

Trump's cabinet seems to have little fear of national brain drain or missing out on international science talent. As the NYT points out, at least half of the workers in the US with doctorates were born abroad.

It all comes in the context of the White House's assault on the most influential academic institutions in the country. Trump has directly targeted international students, going as far as to attempt to prevent Harvard University from enrolling foreign-born students, a horrifying decision that was blocked by a judge last week.

The executive branch also recently temporarily halted student visa appointments, triggering panic among students from around the world.

In short, the Trump administration has made it very clear that the United States is a hostile place to build a career as a scientist, whether you were born within its borders or not.

"What we see is a full-scale assault on science in America," representative George Whitesides (D-CA) told PBS. "It is probably the biggest attack on our scientific establishment in history."

More on brain drain: Nobel-Winning Scientist Says His Researchers Are Fleeing the Country Because of Trump's Cruelty