Yaghi, who shared the 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Richard Robson and Susumu Kitagawa for pioneering work on metal-organic frameworks and reticular chemistry, made the comments as he prepares to leave the University of California, Berkeley, for Tsinghua University in Beijing.
His decision to relocate comes as the U.S. research environment faces growing uncertainty. The Trump administration has proposed major changes to federal research funding and tighter restrictions on collaborations with Chinese universities. American institutions are contending with funding cuts and geopolitical tensions, prompting many top scientists to pursue opportunities overseas.
Speaking with Times Higher Education (THE), Yaghi said current U.S. policies are making it harder for scientists to collaborate across borders.
"We're going exactly in the opposite direction.
"Our budgets are strapped, we have geopolitical issues with immigration and we're becoming less and less generous with giving visas," he said.
