{"slug": "canada-hires-48-scholars-away-from-top-us-universities", "title": "Canada Hires 48 Scholars Away From Top US Universities", "summary": "Canada is hiring 64 researchers, including 48 from U.S. institutions such as Harvard, Yale, and MIT, with more than $364 million in government funding, as part of a push to attract talent in AI, climate science, and medicine. The move, announced by Industry Minister Melanie Joly, is billed as the world's largest talent attraction project and comes amid concerns over U.S. funding cuts and academic freedom under the Trump administration. Notable recruits include Phillip Zamore, chair of the RNA Therapeutics Institute at the University of Massachusetts, who will join McGill University, and Kevin Hall, a nutrition scientist who left the U.S. National Institutes of Health, who will join the University of Ottawa.", "body_md": "Canada is recruiting 64 researchers to universities across the country (source paywalled; alternative source), including 48 from U.S. institutions such as Harvard, Yale, and MIT. The hires are backed by more than $364 million in government funding and are part of a broader effort to attract researchers in fields such as AI, climate science, and medicine. The New York Times reports: While scientists often shy away from political discourse, some are saying the Trump administration's assault on science is behind their departure. \"I used to live in the country that I thought was the most enthusiastic about the prospects for science improving the human condition, of any country in the world,\" said Phillip Zamore, the chair of RNA Therapeutics Institute at the University of Massachusetts. \"And I woke up one day and that wasn't true anymore.\" He has been recruited to McGill University in Montreal, which has also hired five other researchers, and will join the medical faculty. \"If scientists don't stand up for truth, no one will,\" Dr. Zamore said.\nThe Canada-bound brain drain from U.S. institutions began last year as the Trump administration put forward policies that targeted foreign students, academic freedom and funding for equity-related programs. Kevin Hall, a nutrition scientist who left the U.S. National Institutes of Health last year, accusing federal officials of censoring his research on ultraprocessed foods, has been hired at the University of Ottawa. \"While certain countries are cutting research and turning their back on academic freedom, we're doubling down on science,\" Melanie Joly, Canada's industry minister, told reporters at the announcement, in Vancouver, of the new university hiring. She billed it as the world's \"largest talent attraction\" project. The European Union has made a similar push. \"Years from now, we will look back at today's announcement, and we will be able to seize the lasting impact of our choices,\" Ms. Joly said.\nUnpredictable decisions about funding prompted Seth Guikema, a professor in civil and environmental engineering, who has specialized in natural hazards modeling at the University of Michigan, to look elsewhere. His work focuses on how climate hazards inequitably affect communities, and that work has become harder to fund, he said. \"Every country sets its priorities in terms of what is going to get funded, and I think Canada has done a very good job of supporting research in areas that really matter to society,\" said Dr. Guikema, who will start at Western University in London, Ontario in January.[Read more of this story](https://news.slashdot.org/story/26/08/27/2350251/canada-hires-48-scholars-away-from-top-us-universities?utm_source=rss1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed) at Slashdot.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/canada-hires-48-scholars-away-from-top-us-universities", "canonical_source": "https://news.slashdot.org/story/26/08/27/2350251/canada-hires-48-scholars-away-from-top-us-universities?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed", "published_at": "2026-08-28 07:00:00+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-08-28 07:18:05.757321+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["artificial-intelligence", "ai-policy"], "entities": ["Canada", "Harvard", "Yale", "MIT", "McGill University", "University of Ottawa", "Melanie Joly", "Phillip Zamore"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/canada-hires-48-scholars-away-from-top-us-universities", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/canada-hires-48-scholars-away-from-top-us-universities.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/canada-hires-48-scholars-away-from-top-us-universities.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/canada-hires-48-scholars-away-from-top-us-universities.jsonld"}}