Australia’s leading scientists are urging the Albanese government to sign up to a European collaborative research fund because it fears the Trump administration’s attempts to influence what is researched and by whom, and a possible collapse in funding.

The move follows representatives from Australia’s spy agencies telling university leaders they were concerned about the potential for foreign influence stemming from a 36-point questionnaire that pushes US President Donald Trump’s ideological agenda in areas as broad as foreign aid, narcotics, terrorism, government waste and DEI.