International researcher mobility between the European Union and its two biggest global research rivals, the United States and China, experienced a sharp decline between 2023 and 2025, according to a biennial report published by the European Commission. The comprehensive study, titled Science, Research and Innovation Performance of the EU, reveals that the volume of academic and scientific personnel moving between these major global jurisdictions dropped significantly during the latter stages of Joe Biden’s presidency and the first nine months of Donald Trump’s second term in office.
Decline in Transatlantic and Bilateral Research Flows
According to findings highlighted by timeshighereducation.com, the volume of researchers relocating from the European Union to the United States fell by 45 percent between 2023 and 2025. Movement in the opposite direction dropped by a third over the same timeframe. A parallel contraction occurred in academic exchanges involving China. Flows of researchers from the EU to China decreased by 41 percent, while movement from China to the EU saw a 24 percent reduction.
The report attributes these downward shifts to a combination of geopolitical tensions, China’s expanding scientific influence, and reductions in federal science funding within the United States following Donald Trump’s return to the presidency in 2025. Despite the broader contraction in international mobility, the data indicates a distinct structural shift in regional preferences among academic talent.
European Union Overtakes the United States for Outgoing Chinese Researchers
For the first time, the European Union surpassed the United States as the preferred destination for outgoing Chinese researchers. In 2025, 53 percent of researchers leaving China chose European destinations, marking a substantial increase from 35 percent just two years prior.
This milestone predates the full implementation of the European Union’s “Choose Europe for Science” strategy, an initiative launched in 2025 designed to attract and retain talented researchers from around the world, particularly from the United States. To support this objective, the European Commission and member states expanded targeted funding calls from 65 in 2025 to 101, while more than doubling the allocated budget to €900 million.
Uneven Gains Across Career Stages and Employment Instability
While the European Union has made notable strides in attracting senior talent, the report emphasizes that these gains remain unevenly distributed across different career stages. Since 2023, the bloc has recorded a “brain gain” among established researchers—defined as individuals whose first publication appeared before 2015, granting them at least 10 years of research experience. Inflows in this demographic now exceed outflows.
Conversely, the bloc continues to face challenges in attracting and retaining younger researchers, a hurdle the report links to an unstable geopolitical climate. Insecure employment remains a persistent systemic barrier across European higher education. Figures cited in the study show that approximately 20 percent of researchers working in EU higher education held “precarious” contracts in 2022, with postdoctoral positions experiencing the highest vulnerability.
These rates display stark geographic disparities across member states. Contract insecurity peaked significantly in certain nations, affecting about half of all researchers in Cyprus, nearly 40 percent in Finland, and approximately 40 percent in Germany.
Frequently Asked Questions About Global Researcher Mobility
-
What specific time period does the European Commission report cover?
The biennial report tracks international researcher mobility between 2023 and 2025, encompassing the final years of the Biden administration and the initial nine months of Donald Trump’s second presidential term. -
What financial resources are dedicated to the Choose Europe for Science strategy?
The initiative features 101 European, national, and regional funding calls backed by a budget that has more than doubled to €900 million. -
Which European countries report the highest rates of precarious researcher contracts?
Contract instability is most acute in Cyprus, where about half of researchers face insecure employment, followed by Finland and Germany at roughly 40 percent each.
Keep reading