A recent survey of young scientists has raised concerns about the future of scientific research in the United States. According to a working paper published by the National Bureau of Economic Research, one-third of young researchers who had previously planned to pursue careers in academia changed their minds in early 2025. Many now feel less confident about staying in higher education or working in the U.S., and fewer believe that earning a Ph.D. is the right path. The survey took place during a period of increasing government scrutiny on science funding and the presence of international students, policies that have faced legal challenges. While the courts have temporarily blocked some of these policies, the uncertainty they created has left many young scientists unsure about their career prospects in the U.S. This uncertainty may also be damaging the long-standing partnership between the U.S. government and universities, which has historically driven scientific innovation and economic growth. The survey, conducted in March 2025, found that a third of respondents who had previously said they were likely or very likely to pursue a career in academia no longer felt that way. Similarly, nearly a quarter of those who had expected to stay and work in the U.S. no longer felt that was likely. When asked about their satisfaction with having earned a Ph.D., 17% fewer respondents said they were either satisfied or neutral compared to six months earlier. The survey was conducted unintentionally. Researchers, including Raffaella Sadun, a professor at Harvard Business School, were studying biomedical lab management practices when the Trump administration began cracking down on government-funded science and higher education. As they conducted interviews with postdoctoral researchers, they noticed a growing sense of anxiety about policy changes and funding uncertainty. This led them to conduct a quick survey of over 13,000 doctoral students and postdoctoral researchers to gauge how their career expectations had changed. The survey asked questions about their likelihood of staying in academia, staying in the U.S., and their satisfaction with pursuing a Ph.D., both for the present and six months earlier. While the survey design might be vulnerable to "recall bias"—where people remember the past more favorably than they actually felt at the time—the researchers found no evidence of this issue. A comparison of responses from earlier in 2024 with those from March 2025 showed that the changes in attitudes were real. The survey found that the percentage of scientists likely to stay in academia dropped from 66% to 44%, while the percentage of those likely to remain in the U.S. fell from 93% to 72%. Satisfaction with having pursued a Ph.D. also declined, from 92% to 76%. The shift in young scientists' career intentions could have significant implications for U.S. scientific research and the broader economy, Sadun said. While some scientists have already moved abroad, it's unclear how many will follow through on their stated intentions. She emphasized that the loss of trained scientists, who have studied and worked in the U.S., could weaken the nation's research and innovation capabilities. "This is not great for research and it's problematic from the perspective that R&D activities conducted in universities are an engine of growth," Sadun said. "What you're looking at is a significant shrinking of a population of scientists that you've created. They've spent time here, they've learned here. You've shaped this talent and this talent is telling you, 'I want out.'"