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How is 25 American takings jobs in Austria newsworthy?
by constantcrying 1y ago
How is 25 American takings jobs in Austria newsworthy?
- htk 1y agoBecause it's a reason to bash Trump. Trump gives plenty of reasons to be bashed, but this news article seems like a stretch.
- sherr 1y agoTaking a less cynical view, it's just successful Austrian PR.
- htk 1y agoIt's right in the first paragraph: "Austria has lured what it calls 25 "top researchers" away from U.S. institutions including Harvard, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Princeton with grants set up in response to the Trump administration's funding cuts targeting universities."
- throwacct 1y agoThis article is missing key info. Which research areas are we talking about?
- amanaplanacanal 1y ago> Recipients of the grants of 500,000 euros ($587,000) each over two years range from post-doctoral researchers to professors and work in fields such as physics, chemistry and life sciences, the Austrian Academy of Sciences said in a statement on Thursday.
- cjbgkagh 1y agoNot an academic so there could be some context I don’t know but upon reading it it’s even worse, grants for 2 years, looks more like a secondment than a coup.
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- 0cf8612b2e1e 1y agoNeed to start somewhere. In 2024 how many researchers did the same?
- devin 1y agoOn its own it isn't, but I suspect if all of these were reported you might think it quite significant.
- constantcrying 1y agoWhy do they not make an actual story out of this, do some research and publish whether there was some unusually high outflow of academics over the last two years? 25 people can not be an indication of anything. Academics especially are moving around often and take up work in different countries.
- foxglacier 1y agoEither it's too hard or it would show a nothing-burger. Anecdotes are better for spreading misinformation when you're constrained by being factual.
- hluska 1y agoCan you point out the misinformation?
- foxglacier 1y agoCalling it a "brain drain" when it's only 25 people. You can probably find 25 Austrian academics going to America and write the same brain drain article about that at the same time.
- hluska 1y agoThis Reuters article is based on a press release that was issued earlier today. The type of research you’re proposing would take weeks to be done, written and edited.
- ricardobeat 1y agoThese are researchers from Harvard, Princeton, and MIT. Sometimes there are only a handful of people worldwide in a particular field doing top level research.
- add-sub-mul-div 1y agoA nation doing a 180 from its longstanding strategy of gaining talent to pushing away talent is newsworthy. But it's easy to overlook without reporting on tangible examples.
- constantcrying 1y agoAcademics move around countries all the time for many reasons. It is ridiculous to assume that 25 people moving to different work places is any indication of a "shift in strategy".
- amanaplanacanal 1y agoIt's an example of the result of the shift in strategy. The shift in strategy has been widely reported elsewhere, and we are already well aware of it.
- x0x0 1y agoNot many people walk away from Harvard, MIT, Princeton, etc. If you had tenure there (a big if, since the article is unclear), or even were tenure track, that was viewed as one of the most prestigious and desirable jobs in the world. 25 people leaving is a sea change.
- constantcrying 1y ago>25 people leaving is a sea change. 25 Academics leaving is not "sea change". >If you had tenure there (a big if, since the article is unclear), or even were tenure track, that was viewed as one of the most prestigious and desirable jobs in the world. Some very major ifs there.
- ricardobeat 1y agoFor numbers, it's nearly 1% of all post-docs (~3400) in those three universities, leaving at once, to a single destination. You can do the math. It's a fact that the USA used to attract this talent, not export it.
- constantcrying 1y agoAcademics have always been leaving the US, just like Academics have always been coming to the US. A turnover in staff is normal, it has happened everywhere, always. >It's a fact that the USA used to attract this talent, not export it. And where is the evidence that it does not? People leaving is normal. Post-docs leave institution's all the time. One additional thought. If you think this is about a right wing political shift in the US, why would these researcher go to one of the strongholds of the far right in Europe?
- ricardobeat 1y agoArticles like this are the evidence. The news is not the specific number, but the growing trend [1] of academics looking to leave the US due to turmoil, cancelled grants, visas and the general political climate. There are at least a half dozen other EU countries with right wing governments. Austria’s current chancellor is centre-right, and thank god most “far right” parties in Europe are still kilometers away from their US counterparts, and would not dare interfere in academia in any way similar to Trump’s doings. [1] https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-00938-y https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-00938-y
- araes 1y agoBecause it gets a lot of response, there's a lot of traction, many with positive sentiment, support, and "take me with you" equivalents. Because its a sign significant numbers of people, institutions, disciplines, and demographics are thinking that way. In stock market terminology it would be a signal to investors. Thread on Reddit 1mo ago about biotechnologist Wali Malik leaving his lab in Boston developing mass testing of active ingredients for pharmaceuticals got a decent amount of visibility. Also mentions the APART-USA grants. https://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/1mzlk04/us_researcher_relocates_to_vienna_because_of/ https://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/1mzlk04/us_rese...
- constantcrying 1y ago>Because its a sign significant numbers of people, institutions, disciplines, and demographics are thinking that way. In stock market terminology it would be a signal to investors. How is something incredibly common a signal for anything? Academics move to other countries all the time.
- vor_ 1y agoThat's a very reductionist way to describe it. According to the article, these are key researchers from some of America's most prestigious universities.
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- mensetmanusman 1y agoIt’s narrative building by the media owners. We get to see how they fight rhetorically through headlines.
- bigyabai 1y agoBut when it's one guy being hired by Meta, it's a landmark in private enterprise and irresistible reporting. Hmm...