President of the US National Academy of Sciences, Marcia McNatt, delivered an anxious report regarding the state of American science. During her address in Washington, McNatt highlighted that while the United States remains the largest investor in research and advanced development, China is rapidly closing the gap.
As an example, in 2021, US investments in R&D totaled $806 billion compared to China’s investment of 668 billion. However, the growth rate of Chinese investments is twice that of the United States. Additionally, China filed twice as many patent applications as the USA in the same year.
McNatt noted that following World War II, the United States not only led but dominated global science and engineering, claiming almost 60% of all Nobel Prizes ever awarded. Yet, China is rapidly gaining ground in both the quantity and quality of scientific publications. Various rating systems indicate that China leads in the number of most cited articles, a key indicator of research influence.
Of particular concern is the United States’ “excessive dependence” on foreign specialists in STEM fields, predominantly from China and India. Foreign students in American graduate schools outnumber domestic students, with 65% of them remaining in the US for over a decade, bolstering the country’s STEM workforce.
McNatt highlighted that without foreign students, the United States would struggle to fill vacancies. However, she also observed a decline in the number of Chinese students at American universities, attributing it to more options available to them globally.
To maintain leadership in science, McNatt recommended enhancing STEM education domestically and nurturing local scientific talent. She suggested revisiting the current approach, where the US benefits from educational investments made by other countries, especially in Asia, by attracting their top graduates.
Emphasizing the importance of attracting the “best and brightest minds” worldwide, McNatt proposed simplifying student visa procedures and developing a national research strategy to align R&D investments between government agencies and the private sector.
In response to McNatt’s speech, scientist-audiologist Fan-Gagan Zen from the University of California in Irwin acknowledged the valuable ideas presented but noted that competing interests among different parties could hinder the realization of some proposals.
Zen highlighted potential contradictions in McNatt’s recommendations, such as federal support versus industrial interests, domestic students versus foreign students, and national security versus international