The Financial Times today had a very interesting article on Americans who are moving to the UK. Among the listed reasons for the migration: health insurance, quality of life, and the ability to travel between the countries of Europe the way most Americans view traveling between the States.
I worry about the potential effects of such a trend on science here in the United States. If this country becomes a less attractive place for the best and the brightest to pursue a career in research, then the nation will be poorer as a result (both metaphorically and actually). I also would add to the list above some additional factors that are specific to science as it’s currently being practiced here in America. Among my items: the increasing politicization of science (e.g. stem cell research and climate change) and the perceived “unfriendly” visa environment for foreign scientists to work in the US.
The second point is significantly more subtle than the first. The latter item refers to the added value to a scientific environment that comes from internationalization. Here at Krasnow, we have an institute for advanced study that currently houses scientists and students that come from China, Russia, Italy, Ukraine and Brazil among many others. That trans-national milieu is considered a real plus among most of the scientists I’ve known. I believe the reason is that scientists value exploration of different cultures almost as highly as they do exploration of nature. If we in the US trend towards more nationalistic science, then I fear the result will be a migration of the science away from the United States.
Jim
Discoverers and Discoveries 