The unrepeatable opportunity

The United States' great postwar success is attributed by many to the explosion of higher education. Even before the conflict, the US welcomed scientists fleeing the oppressive regimes that dominated Europe. Physicists, whose contributions were crucial to the Manhattan Project, which developed the atomic bomb, and many others, first settled in America.

Collaboration between European and American scientists enriched academic communities and would have a major impact on postwar scientific developments. American higher education then experienced impressive growth: between 1945 and 1975, the number of academic institutions tripled, the number of faculty increased by 400%, and the number of students grew by 500%. The GI Bill, which paid tuition and scholarships for war veterans, contributed to this. Within just two years, applicants to this program constituted nearly half of all higher education students.

There was also a massive public boost to research after the 1945 report "Science: The Endless Frontier," which proposed government support for basic science during peacetime. Finally, the 1958 National Defense Education Act allowed the federal government to directly fund education, eliminating the need for research contracts.

The strategy was crucial to the US's transformation into a hegemonic superpower, and shaped its society, opening up opportunities for talent and fostering meritocracy, in line with Harry Truman's promise to eliminate barriers to educational opportunities based on ancestry.

Following successive administrations for eighty years, Trump is witnessing a break with this policy, which he had already attempted during his first term with an attack on academic institutions, which was then vetoed by Congress. Trump claims that academic freedom, which should protect professors and researchers from political interference, is conditioned in the most distinguished universities by woke leftism. But it is he, in fact, who wants to limit it, with an anti-science strategy that penalizes the entire system. According to the unsuspecting Forbes , Trump's effort to punish institutions he considers woke by reducing research grants is proving tragic for all universities, even in Republican states. In just six months, it has affected more than 600 universities, already penalized by visa restrictions for foreign students, which provided them with an important source of funding.

It's paradoxical that, at a time when the US is betting on tariffs to strengthen its industrial capacity, it is promoting policies that reduce and discourage investment in technological research. This is especially true given that, as a percentage of GDP, countries like South Korea invest much more than the US in research. Consequently, an exodus of American professors and researchers is occurring. Twelve member states have written to the European Commission demanding concrete measures to welcome and grant special visas to attract American academics, and numerous European universities have already created programs to welcome those who wish to settle in Europe.

I know, from direct knowledge, that some see Portugal as the best destination. It's an unrepeatable niche, which could be partially allocated to the defense budget and would introduce an accelerator into our technical-scientific system. If universities and research centers lack the resources, it's up to the government to create these conditions.