A destroyed police building in Tehran, where the conflict in Iran has severely disrupted the lives of citizens, including students at home and abroad. Credit: Majid Saeedi/Getty

Babak wants to finish his PhD in 2028. He started his programme in 2024 at a university in the south of the United States. To stay on track, in July this year, he began writing the first paper on his health-care-related research. Between reading papers and coding, his attention wanders.

“I have to check the news to see if my country has been bombarded or not,” says Babak, who is from Iran. He and many of the researchers interviewed by Nature ’s careers team for this article are using pseudonyms out of concern for their own safety and that of their families, as well as fears of potential career repercussions.

Life in the past year has been tumultuous for the people of Iran. The country has been engulfed in violence inflicted both by foreign nations and by its own government.…