By Kritika Agarwal
The uncertain landscape for federal research funding is threatening critical talent pipelines and benefiting competitor nations, says a new report released by a coalition of local and regional business leaders from across the country.
The report warns that the loss of talent will hurt long-term economic growth and innovation in the United States, including in areas such as artificial intelligence, quantum computing, biotechnology, and advanced manufacturing.
Global Efforts to Lure U.S.-Based Talent
The report, issued by Business for Federal Research Funding (BFRF) – a coalition of more than 80 local, regional, and state Chambers of Commerce and business organizations – summarizes initiatives from 21 nations as well as the European Union to lure U.S.-based scientists and researchers abroad.
It noted that the initiatives were launched “directly in response to the rise of paused and cancelled grants and steep proposed research funding cuts across many federal agencies” in the United States and have led to the loss of “early career and experienced researchers” in more than half of U.S. states.
Some of the initiatives highlighted in the report include:
- The $1.2 billion “Canada Global Impact + Research Talent Initiative,” which seeks to recruit more than 1,000 researchers and “includes four programs targeting senior and early career researchers, including PhD students and post-docs, as well as investments in facilities and equipment.”
- The European Union’s $576 million “Choose Europe for Science” initiative, which provides funds, including relocation support for researchers to “establish labs or research teams in 15 European cities.”
- France’s $115 million “Choose France for Science” initiative, which, in February, announced “awards for 46 scientists; 41 of whom were previously at U.S. institutions.”
The report noted that these programs frequently “offer school and work opportunities in English with salaries competitive to U.S. positions, expedited visa or residency approvals in as short as a month, and support for up to 10 years.” Many also offer “relocation support, financial bonuses specifically to U.S. applicants and/or a preference for those interested in permanently relocating.”
Increasing Loss of U.S.-Based Talent
These initiatives have borne fruit for competitor nations. In a letter sharing the report with members of Congress, BFRF noted that “Research institutions from states in every region of the country have lost researchers to these new global recruitment programs, including Colorado State University (Austria), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Canada), University of Central Florida (Japan), and the University of Alaska-Fairbanks (Sweden), as well as numerous researchers from NASA, the National Laboratories, NIH [the National Institutes of Health], the National Science Foundation (NSF), and the Mayo Clinic.”
The New York Times recently published an essay on how Austria successfully recruited Wali Malik, a robotics engineer from Massachusetts, to lead a new robotics labs at its Research Institute for Biomedical Artificial Intelligence. “His first task was to hire top scientists. He helped recruit a team of four – all from U.S. research labs at Yale, MIT, the California Institute of Technology and the University of California, San Francisco,” The Times reported.
Long-Term Impacts of Brain Drain
“Our competitors are not pursuing these programs simply due to altruism,” BFRF said to lawmakers. Instead, “they know that research funding is a smart investment that helped grow our economy and attracted talented individuals from all over the world to the U.S., including many of their own citizens,” it added.
BFRF’s letter to Congress expressed deep concern “by the breadth of these new global programs” and their success in recruiting talent. The coalition noted that federal research investments act as “force multipliers” within the economy – federally funded research not only leads to new products and services, but also creates “jobs through the businesses needed to build facilities, materials, and instruments.” It noted that “the loss of early and mid-career researchers is particularly concerning as their work will produce future start-ups and patents, and their loss affects our future capacity for mentorship, education, and skills training which are vital to producing the next generation of scientists.”
The coalition urged Congress to consider its findings as it develops the FY27 budget and to advance policies that ensure researchers are “not incentivized to relocate abroad.” Unless Congress acts, it said, “the resulting loss of talent and industry capacity will be felt for years to come.”
Related Resources:
Resources on American Researchers Leaving the United States (last updated on April 15, 2026)
Scientific Talent in America: Going Abroad or Choosing Not to Come (January 2026)
Amid U.S. Policy Shifts, Other Nations Court Global Talent (December 11, 2025)
As American Science Faces Cuts, Other Countries See an Opportunity (June 27, 2025)
Kritika Agarwal is assistant vice president for communications at AAU.