'I saw the writing on the wall': Austria offers safe haven for US academics as Trump wages war on universities

Source: The Guardian

Tue 10 Feb 2026 00.01 EST
Last modified on Tue 10 Feb 2026 13.06 EST


Wali Malik no longer has to worry that a rightwing bureaucrat – or influencer – will decide his research is “woke”. He doesn’t have to fear government retaliation for speaking his mind or following the science wherever it may lead. And like others who have left a polarized United States for the calmer pastures of Austria, he need not fear his lab being decimated because the president decided he wants to deport the people who work there.

“There is a lot of excitement in Vienna,” said Malik, a specialist in lab robotics. Last Spring, then living in Boston and working as a consultant for biomedical research labs, he was recruited to lead the development of robotic infrastructure at Aithyra, a life sciences research institution, founded in 2024, that seeks to incorporate artificial intelligence in all aspects of scientific development.

When he got the call about a position in Vienna, Malik had already begun to see the impact of Donald Trump’s assault on higher education and scientific research. He saw friends and family fall victim to mass layoffs at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and National Science Foundation, while his own work slowed as federal grants were rescinded.

He had never been to Austria, but the decision to leave the United States wasn’t hard. “I saw the writing on the wall,” Malik explained. “It took trust for the US to become a scientific powerhouse. It took 70 years – and was destroyed within six months,” he said. And if the US electorate is willing to do this, he asks, who’s to say it won’t do so again in the future?

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/feb/10/academics-austria-safe-haven