Alexis Dale-Huang & Rory Truex. (2025). “The End of Exchange: An Analysis of China Research at U.S. Universities.” Working Paper.

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How is U.S.-China geopolitical competition affecting China-focused research at American universities and bilateral scientific cooperation? This article analyzes National Science Foundation grant awards related to China to study trends in U.S. scientific research in the context of intensifying great power relations. Compared to 2012–2017, the number of China related grants dropped by over 50 percent in 2018–2023. Most NSF directorates show some evidence of this pattern, and research projects that involve fieldwork or dissertation research have been especially hard hit. These trends do not appear to be reversing in the post-COVID-19 era and are unlikely to change in the near term. These findings have implications for U.S.-China relations, the U.S. government's understanding of China, and the global scientific enterprise.