"The number of Ph.D. holders in STEM and health roles leaving 14 federal research agencies outnumbered hires 11 to 1 last year, according to a Science analysis of White House Office of Personnel Management (OPM) data. That has resulted in a net 4,224 fewer such Ph.D.s in those agencies, the journal reported this week."
"The National Institutes of Health saw the greatest increase in departures of STEM and health-relatedPh.D.s from 2024 to 2025, when President Trump retook the White House. In 2024,421 left the NIH; in 2025, more than 1,100 left. The agency also hired far fewer of those Ph.D.s last year than the year before. (Trump proposed cutting the NIH's budget by roughly 40 percent this fiscal year, alongside massive cuts to other federal research agencies.)"
"The National Science Foundation lost a net 205 STEM and health-related Ph.D.s, equaling "40% of its total pre-Trump Ph.D. workforce of 517, by far the largest percentage at any agency," Science reported. Nearly half of those who left the NSF last year were "rotators," scholars on temporary leave from their universities, Science reported, noting that the agency erased 75 percent of those rotator positions last year."
Fourteen federal research agencies experienced a major decline in STEM and health Ph.D. staffing in 2025, with departures far exceeding hires and a net loss of 4,224 Ph.D.s. Reductions in force accounted for relatively few departures. Most exits were retirements and resignations, with outside pressures such as fear of firing, buyout offers, and disagreement with Trump administration policies likely influencing many decisions. The NIH’s departures rose sharply from 421 in 2024 to over 1,100 in 2025 while hiring fell. The NSF lost 205 Ph.D.s—about 40% of its pre-Trump Ph.D. workforce—driven partly by elimination of rotator positions. Across the 14 agencies, employment of such Ph.D.s shrank by about 17% on average from 2024 to 2025.
Read at Inside Higher Ed | Higher Education News, Events and Jobs
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