On Apr. 8, a protest against the Trump administration's funding cuts to research, health, and higher education is held at UCLA in Los Angeles, California. /Courtesy of AFP Yonhap News.

“This is not being recorded, right? I hope this doesn’t make it into the article.”

On the 25th of last month, I met two scientists affiliated with a U.S. public research institution and a prestigious university at an international conference held at Yonsei University's Sinchon campus. While American scientists usually express their opinions freely at academic conferences or symposiums, this time it was different. The impact of reduced research budgets and workforce restructuring under the Trump administration created a palpable sense of anxiety in the scientific community.

The two scientists noted, “Currently, it is a burdensome situation to publicly discuss science policy in the United States.” Although it was a formal interview scheduled in advance, the two scientists adjusted the level of their remarks and requested that certain expressions not be used in the article.

The first to speak, Dr. A, is a leading figure in the field of biology at a U.S. public research institution. He described the budget cuts initiated with the beginning of the second term of the Trump administration not as simple adjustments but as “the start of dismantling scientific infrastructure.” Dr. A stated, “The U.S. government is reducing expenditures citing the need to decrease substantial liabilities, but the method is excessively abrupt and political, and science is no exception.”

With the launch of the second term of the Trump administration this year, the American scientific community is caught in an unprecedented fiscal tightening whirlwind. The government, advocating the 'Fiscal Responsibility Act,' has drastically cut the budgets of major scientific institutions such as the National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Science Foundation (NSF), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Topics such as climate change, vaccines, and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) have effectively been excluded from support, labeled as 'political.'

New research proposals and existing projects have been repeatedly halted, and some universities have temporarily suspended the selection of doctoral candidates. There has also been an increase in cases of visa cancellations for foreign researchers. Dr. A expressed, “The American scientific community is quietly collapsing,” adding, “The government operates its policies on a system of cutting first and patching up later if it hurts.”

The international journal Science also evaluated on the 1st (local time) that during the first 100 days of the second term of the Trump administration, the American scientific community is faced with the most drastic changes since World War II. Science specifically pointed out, “There is a pervasive sense of crisis that the research ecosystem built over decades in the American scientific community could collapse in just 14 weeks.”

Long-term research projects have been particularly hard hit. Professor B from an American university expressed, “Cohort research accumulated over decades can be rendered ineffective with just a 1- to 2-year gap,” emphasizing, “This is an irrecoverable loss, affecting not only science but also health, the economy, and society as a whole.”

Cracks are already appearing in international collaborative research and data sharing. The U.S. government has recently restricted access to databases managed by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) from certain countries, including China and Russia. Researchers have referred to this as an “invisible barrier.” Dr. A commented, “When the data flow is cut off, international collaborative research is shaken from its foundation,” stating that “the principle that science should have no borders is breaking down.” Meanwhile, China is accelerating the establishment of an independent life information platform.

This trend is also appearing in the microbiome field. The International Human Microbiome Consortium (IHMC), which includes participants from Korea, Japan, and the European Union (EU), is working on the international standardization and joint utilization of human microbiome data, but there are concerns that U.S. access restrictions could affect international collaborative research and data sharing.

The crisis in the American scientific community is not just an individual problem for scientists. Researchers believe that when basic science halts, technological innovation stagnates, and technological stagnation quickly leads to weakened industrial competitiveness and slowed economic growth.

In a situation where intergovernmental cooperation is weakened, scientists are seeking other connections. Dr. A noted, “International conferences and workshops are becoming the last threads of research cooperation.” Professor B revealed, “The structure in which countries participate in international research projects with their own budgets is becoming a new survival strategy.”

The two scientists stated that the role of the private sector is also becoming increasingly important in filling these gaps. Private research support institutions such as the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative in the U.S. and the Wellcome Trust in the U.K. are taking over parts of public research, while the bio-industry is actively investing in synthetic biology and rare earth recovery microorganisms.

Dr. A advised, “Countries like Korea, where universities and industries collaborate closely, can actually create new ecosystem models,” and added, “The crisis is clear, but now it could also be a turning point.”