As funding falters, young brain scientists rethink careers in research

"A decades-long boom in brain science in the United States may be heading for a bust. Ongoing disruptions in federal funding are causing many young brain scientists to reconsider their career choice, according to leaders of the Society for Neuroscience (SfN), which represents more than 37,000 researchers and clinicians. If those scientists change fields or leave the country, SfN officials say, it could hobble the nation's efforts to understand and treat brain disorders including Alzheimer's, autism, Parkinson's and schizophrenia."

""The U.S. has been a world leader in research for decades, and that leadership position is now at risk," says John Morrison, a professor at the University of California, Davis and president of SfN. Morrison expects that discussions about federal funding are likely to have a prominent place in the group's annual five-day meeting, which begins Saturday in San Diego and is expected to attract about 20,000 brain scientists. "It's hard to escape, because we're all being directly affected by it," Morrison says."

"In the months since President Trump took office, the National Institutes of Health and National Science Foundation have been buffeted by cuts, grant terminations, and abrupt policy changes. Federal health officials have said those measures reflect an effort to reduce fraud and waste, end support of 'woke' science, and align research with the administration's priorities. But the process has been unsettling for young scientists like Clara Zundel, a postdoctoral researcher at Wayne State University in Detroit."

Federal funding disruptions are causing many early-career brain scientists to reconsider their careers, with potential departures or field changes risking U.S. leadership in neuroscience. The Society for Neuroscience, representing over 37,000 researchers and clinicians, warns that diminished talent could impair efforts to understand and treat Alzheimer’s, autism, Parkinson’s and schizophrenia. Concerns center on NIH and NSF cuts, grant terminations, and abrupt policy shifts framed as efforts to curb fraud, end support of 'woke' science, and refocus research priorities. Funding delays have led some researchers to skip conferences and intensify job searches amid a tightening academic job market.

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