BRAIN DRAIN

Dozens of countries are trying to convince disaffected American scientists to move there permanently—and plenty of young researchers are eager to go

- BY SARAH SCOLES

BY DAY AMERICAN PHYSICIST KENNETH LONG WORKS WITH the world’s largest particle accelerator, the Large Hadron Collider at CERN near Geneva.

He wants to better understand the W boson, a subatomic particle that is responsible for some kinds of radioactivity and for fusion. But he also likes bikes, and this July you might find him on a scenic roadside, cheering on competitors in the Tour de France. He won't have to take an international flight to spectate: Long moved abroad in February, splitting time between Lyon and Geneva as a scientist with the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS).

Long was brought to France by a recruitment program called Choose CNRS. The organization launched it last April, a few months after the Trump administration began cutting scientific programs in the U.S. The initiative aims to lure foreign researchers to Europe with stable positions, generous funding and promises of academic freedom. For many scientists from the U.S., programs like this one are a lifeline: a way to pursue world-class research without fighting against the funding cuts and disruptive policies currently stifling American science.

According to polls, application numbers and anecdata, many young American scientists are considering such moves. Three quarters of U.S. researchers who responded to a Nature poll conducted last March were thinking about moving abroad. The trend was especially apparent among early-career scientists: of the 690 postdocs and 340 Ph.D. students who responded, 803 said they were considering sailing for other shores.