STOCKHOLM: Donald Trump\u2019s assault on science could threaten the United States\u2019 position as the world\u2019s leading research nation and have knock-on effects worldwide, Nobel Prize officials in Sweden said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since taking office in January, the US president has\u00a0cut\u00a0billions of dollars in funding,\u00a0attacked\u00a0universities\u2019 academic freedoms and overseen mass\u00a0layoffs\u00a0of scientists across federal agencies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Next week, the Nobel Prizes will be announced in Stockholm and Oslo, and chances are high that researchers working in the United States will take home some of the prestigious awards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The United States is home to more Nobel science laureates than any other country, due largely to its longstanding investment in basic science and academic freedoms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nThe United States has terminated 2,100 research grants totalling around $9.5bn<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
But that could change, said Hans Ellegren, secretary general of the Royal Swedish Academy of \u00adSci\u00aden\u00adces, which awards the Nobel prizes in physics, chemistry, and economics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIn the post-war period, the US has taken over Germany\u2019s role as the world\u2019s leading scientific nation. When they now start cutting research funding, it threatens the country\u2019s position,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since January, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have terminated 2,100 research grants totalling around $9.5 billion and $2.6bn in contracts, according to an independent database called Grant Watch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Affected projects include studies on gender, the health effects of global warming, Alzheimer\u2019s disease and cancer. Efforts are under way to restore some of the funding but uncertainty looms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Other fields in Trump\u2019s line of fire include\u00a0vaccines, climate change and diversity, equity and inclusion. Thomas Perlmann, secretary general of the committee that awards the Nobel Prize for Medicine, said it was \u201cno coincidence that the US has by far the most Nobel laureates\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBut there is now a creeping sense of uncertainty about the US\u2019 willingness to maintain their leading position in research,\u201d he said. Perlmann called the United States \u201cthe very engine\u201d of scientific research worldwide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere would be very serious consequences for research globally if it starts to falter,\u201d he added. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t take very many years of large cutbacks to cause irreversible harm.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018China on the rise\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump\u2019s cuts could lead to a brain drain and ripple effects on research in other countries, Ellegren and Perlmann said. Scientists and researchers who have already lost their jobs or funding may not return to their fields even if budgets are restored, and younger would-be scientists may decide not to pursue a career in research, they said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere is a risk that a whole generation of young researchers will be lost,\u201d Ellegren warned. While Trump\u2019s policies primarily affect US research, international cooperation is already suffering as a result, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Published in Dawn, October 3rd, 2025<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
STOCKHOLM: Donald Trump\u2019s assault on science could threaten the United States\u2019 position as the world\u2019s leading research nation and have knock-on effects worldwide, Nobel Prize officials in Sweden said. Since taking office in January, the US president has\u00a0cut\u00a0billions of dollars in funding,\u00a0attacked\u00a0universities\u2019 academic freedoms and overseen mass\u00a0layoffs\u00a0of scientists across federal agencies. Next week, the Nobel […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5791,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_3859443944190656_828796993651875":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-5790","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5790","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5790"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5790\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5792,"href":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5790\/revisions\/5792"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5791"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5790"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5790"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5790"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}