When Calvin Santiago Lee decided to look beyond his home in the United States for a PhD position, finances played a decisive part. “I believed that unless I got extremely lucky in the US, there would be little chance of being financially stable during my PhD and having good career prospects thereafter,” says the theoretical computer scientist.
The global PhD landscape 2025
His current position working on category theory — a mathematical field related to programming languages and logic — at Reykjavik University in Iceland pays well and provides good work–life balance. “I feel like a valued member of society and can live a comfortable life while pursuing a PhD. I believe that even at top US institutions, this would not be a guarantee.”
Lee’s move captures a sentiment shared by many young researchers. When Nature surveyed nearly 3,800 PhD students worldwide in May and June, about one-third were based outside their country of origin (see ‘Mobility of PhD students studying abroad’). Among the 1,232 respondents studying abroad, the most common reason for their move — cited by 43% — was “a lack of funding at home”.
That proportion is on a par with Nature’s two previous PhD surveys in 2019 and 2022, when around 45% of those earning a PhD abroad said finances had played a key part in their move. However, in both of those surveys, it was not the top reason. Instead, that was “to experience another culture”, chosen by roughly half of respondents (49% in 2022 and 46% in 2019). But this year, only 35% selected that option. (Note that some options have changed from previous surveys, which might have influenced respondents’ selections.)
Other motivations for studying abroad that have seen a drop include “more job opportunities post-study” (from 42% in 2019 to 35% in 2025) and “a lack of, or low quality, programmes at home” (40% in 2019 to 28% in 2025). Altogether, this suggests that students are making more-pragmatic decisions, guided by financial and career considerations rather than by personal exploration.
The numbers make sense, says Chris Glass at Boston College in Massachusetts, who researches trends in higher education. He says that shifting visa rules, uncertain post-study work permissions and geopolitical turbulence have “changed the calculus” for prospective PhD students globally. “International doctoral talent today demands tangible economic and scientific returns — not just the promise of experiencing another culture,” he adds.
Glass says that students are increasingly asking: “Will I be able to stay and build a research career? Are my skills marketable in the host country — and globally?” He thinks that it’s both an adaptive response to policy headwinds and a sign that students are optimizing their choices for impact and opportunity in a world in which “uncertainty is the norm”.
Political push
Politics is a minor motivation for moving abroad. Overall, just 7% of respondents say that political reasons influenced their decision, a share that has changed little since Nature asked the question in 2017.
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