Global Minds Initiative, the program seeking to attract top talent to Germany on the back of US brain drain

The Trump administration is making it increasingly difficult to work in the United States, leading many highly qualified researchers and professionals to seek opportunities in other markets abroad. Germany wants to capitalize on this unusual brain drain to address its long-standing shortage of skilled labor, a problem experts predict will worsen in the coming years due to demographic shifts.

“We want to facilitate immigration into the labor market and ensure that we attract the world’s best researchers, developers, and specialists to Germany,” declared German Chancellor Friedrich Merz at an annual metalworking industry event held in mid-December in Berlin. To this end, the conservative leader explained that they are working to make the country attractive to “skilled workers, scientists, and researchers who want to come to Germany.”

“Many Americans are contacting us to say they would like to come to Europe or Germany because of the current climate in the United States. Let’s seize these opportunities together. We will create the necessary conditions to make it possible,” he stated.

Business leaders have long warned the new coalition government of conservatives and social democrats about the difficulties in finding workers and the implications this has for the German economy. According to a study by the German Economic Institute (IW), which is closely aligned with business leaders, there was a shortage of nearly 150,000 skilled workers in STEM fields in October. The study’s authors warn that, despite the economic recession in Germany, the shortage remains high and jeopardizes important future projects in areas such as digitalization, climate protection, infrastructure and defense—sectors where the German government plans to invest billions in the coming years.

But while Germany is desperately seeking highly qualified professionals, in the United States, the Trump administration is cutting billions of dollars from scientific institutes and universities, restricting what can be studied, deporting immigrants, and limiting visas for skilled workers. Until now, the United States was a magnet for the world’s best researchers, scientists, and academics. Big budgets, high salaries and cutting-edge equipment made it nearly impossible for other countries to compete for them. “A historic opportunity is opening up for Germany: at a time when other countries are building walls, our country can open doors and thus benefit not only its science, but also its economy and society in the long term,” explained IW economist Michael Hüther last summer.

For decades, the U.S. has been considered a destination for emigration, including for Germans, who saw great job opportunities there. However, this trend appears to have come to an end. According to the German Federal Statistical Office, from January to September, more people emigrated from the U.S. to Germany than vice versa, for the first time since 2021. Specifically, 19,300 people arrived in the European country from the U.S. This represents a 3.4% increase compared to the same period last year. This figure includes both tourists and people who came to study or work in Germany. U.S. citizens can enter Germany without a visa and then apply for a residence permit on-site, as the Interior Ministry points out.

“The number of residence permits granted to U.S. citizens in the country (first-time grants after entry) increased by 32% in the comparative period from January to September between 2024 and 2025. This includes the following reasons for residence: work activity (including researchers), vocational training, studies, recognition measures and job search (opportunity card),” a spokesperson for the Ministry of the Interior explained to EL PAÍS.

“Many American colleagues feel insecure and, in some ways, intimidated,” the president of the Max Planck Society (MPG), Patrick Cramer, told the radio station Deutschlandfunk a few months ago. Cramer stated at the time that he expected an influx of American researchers to Germany. “Some have already contacted the MPG. The MPG then tries to make them offers, on the condition that they are ‘leading figures in the field of research.’” Universities are also noticing an increase in applications. According to the newspaper Die Welt, the prestigious Technical University of Munich (TUM) is receiving more applications than usual from the United States. The Global Visiting Professor Program, a program offering stays of up to three months for visiting professors from abroad at TUM, has also seen a considerable increase in applications, including from the United States.

But attracting top talent isn’t something that can be done with the snap of a finger. It requires specific investments and policies, such as an ambitious scholarship program for international talent, as those in the scientific community point out. Last July, the German government launched the “1,000 More Heads” program, known in English as the Global Minds Initiative Germany, which aims to offer “attractive career prospects in Germany.” It targets researchers from around the world and across all disciplines at various stages of their careers, starting from their PhD studies, and funds both short-term and long-term research stays. Since its inception, funding has been awarded to 166 researchers from 25 countries, 26 of whom are from the United States.

“We want to invest more than €600 million ($701 million) in this program. More than any other country in Europe. This represents a huge boost for the much-needed skilled workforce and for cutting-edge research in Germany,” declared German Minister for Research, Technology and Astronautics Dorothee Bär in mid-December, welcoming some of the first beneficiaries, including Johannes Stein, who recently conducted research at Harvard University in the field of bioengineering and will now lead a research group at the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics in Berlin.

Sources in Germany indicate that the goal is to attract people not only from the United States, but also from other parts of the world, such as India, South America and Canada, who in the past would have chosen the United States but now face difficulties entering the country or are uncertain about their long-term viability. Some regions of Germany, like the state of Baden-Württemberg—known for its thriving business network with numerous leading companies in their respective sectors—want to capitalize on the situation to become a “magnet for cutting-edge international research,” as its president, Winfried Kretschmann, announced.

STEM workers are known for being more mobile than other professionals, which fosters fierce international competition. “Programming languages and scientific principles are identical worldwide, so skills can be more easily applied in other countries,” explains Axel Plünnecke, a STEM expert at the IW economics institute. However, in his view, while Germany continues to enjoy a strong reputation as a technological nation and many international students pursue STEM studies there, the major challenge is retaining them afterward. “Germany needs robust support programs at universities for language learning, academic success, and job searching to further attract international students to stay in Germany,” Plünnecke adds.

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