The US was already having problems with the performance of US academic institutions in scientific areas when Donald Trump arrived with the mission to nobble universities.

The extent of the problem is highlighted by the latest Nature Index of Research Leaders which ranks leading academic institutions based on Nature data (11/6) about publications and other measures. In the latest 2025 table Harvard is ranked number one (the rankings are based on 2024 counts of papers and other criteria with the next highest US ranking being Stanford 12^th followed by MIT and Oxford. All in all 14 of the top 20 universities are Chinese.

The Chinese contribution to world-class science is advancing quickly and its lead in the Nature Index data base has multiplied by more than four times in 2024 alone. The US though still leads in health sciences and biological sciences but China is catching up. It should also be said that it wouldn’t rank so highly in measures of non-scientific research – particularly those areas which are measured according to ideological considerations.

But arguably the US under Trump sees most things through his unique world ideological view and his ongoing top of the pops performance on the Dunning Kruger scale. As Nicholas Gruen reminded us, in a Substack post, of Ulesses S Grant’s comment that “If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon’s, but between patriotism and intelligence on one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other”.

The Chinese are also speeding up partnerships with other Asian countries resulting in significant developments in the research strengths of Asian nations Nature reports that South Korea has moved from seventh to eighth in Research Leaders 2025. It grew its share in biological sciences by 11% and went from sixth place to fourth place in the physical sciences.

Stephen Ezell, VP for the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation says China now employs more researchers than both America and Europe combined. The US Center for Security and Engineering, according to Nature, is now predicting that Chinese universities would produce about 77,000 STEM PhD graduates a year compared with 40,000 per year from the US.

Joanne Carney, chief government relations officer at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) said the US had “clearly crossed a threshold into actively abdicating our position as a global leader in research and development and innovation.”

As the ABC’s Professor Julius Sumner Miller asked half a century ago – Why is this so? The answer to that is easy in one word – Trump.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) – the world’s largest biomedical science funder – has terminated 2,900 research grants. The Department of Health and Human Services (to which NIH belongs) has sacked 25% of its workforce. The National Science Foundation has cancelled 1600 grants.  The doomed research covers what biology underpins COVD-19 – a touchstone subject for Trump; gender minorities health; and, any perceived sense of ‘wokeness’.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration which is a centre for environmental and climate research has had 10% of its staff cut and we have seen what happened in Texas recently as to how costly such ideologically driven policies will be.

Gender and the health of minorities have also been targets and the NSF has cancelled research in the area

Australians don’t fare very well with the top-ranking being University of Queensland at 101^st spot.  Australia also doesn’t seem to be doing much to attract fleeing scientists to our universities.

Nature, in April, calculated that job applications by US scientists to institutes in Canada, Europe and non-China Asia were 41%, 32% and 30% higher respectively in 2025 than 2024.

France is busy announcing that it is welcoming ‘scientific refugees’. If something has been happening in Australia one would assume the government might say something about it.

Importantly, however, for once the Democrats are showing some spine – and creativity – in the anti-Trump fight. Nature (9/7) reported that Democrats had hosted a protest event featuring “things we’ll never know: a science fair of cancelled grants.”

Significantly one of the grants cancelled by Trump was four years of research and consultation on tools to help moderators flag such things as adult content and misinformation on social networking platforms. Another researcher, Jessica Rosenberg, an astrophysicist who studies STEM education also had her grants cancelled. Donald Trump and the tech bros would hate that sort of research.

This is all a tragedy for the US and the world but a great opportunity for Australia. Sadly, it is hard to see what, if anything, Australia is doing to encourage US researchers to up sticks and come here. The intellectual environment might not seem to be as great as, for instance Boston with MIT and Harvard, but the weather is a lot better.

Once upon a time Australia was among the world leaders in research. There is a great opportunity to leap up the leaders board again. But then – other than in sporting endeavours – that has never been a national priority.