Pivoting as an Adaptive Strategy to Geopolitical Tensions in U.S. Science

• In Event: Science, Knowledge & Technology Section Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 8: Shifting Technologies of State Knowledge and Power

Abstract

Geopolitical tensions increasingly reshape the structure and openness of global science, yet we still lack a clear understanding of how successfully scientists adapt their work under such pressures. Using millions of funding and publication records over more than a decade, we investigate how U.S.-China geopolitical tensions reshaped individual research activities of U.S.-based scientists, particularly those collaborating with Chinese peers. We find that although U.S.-China geopolitical tensions significantly reduce funding opportunities, many scientists actively respond by pivoting their research portfolios toward alternative topics, and this adaptive reorientation partially mitigates funding losses. Crucially, the effectiveness of this adaptive strategy is highly unequal: for scientists in high-risk domains, those of Asian descent, and early-career scientists, pivoting offers only limited protection against funding loss. Our results demonstrate that geopolitical tensions reshape science through shifts in scientists’ strategic decisions about their research focus. Understanding this adaptive but uneven reconfiguration is essential for science policies to strengthen the resilience and inclusiveness of the scientific enterprise.

Authors

• MOXIN LI, Xi'an Jiaotong University

• Yifang Ma, Department of Statistics and Data Science, Southern University of Science and Technology

• Yang Wang, School of Public Policy and Administration, Xi’an Jiaotong University

• Dashun Wang, Northwestern University, Kellogg School of Managem