The program was already highly competitive, w/just 16% of applicants getting fellowships, because the 3 yrs of unrestricted financial support it offers can be what it takes to get into a certain grad school, or to study w/ a particular mentor or in a particular lab—or, in some cases, to pursue a line of inquiry that might not have support elsewhere.
Now even fewer of the nation’s most promising scientists-in-training will get that funding.
#Trump’s #Science Cuts Will Be Felt for Generations
Mindless slashing at #NSF won’t just harm the scientific enterprise today—it will damage discovery & innovation for years to come.
…when NSF announced the new class of fellows a week ago, the cohort had just a thousand students, less than half of last year’s number & the fewest since 2008.
That’s a big deal.
#AntiIntellectualism #BrainDrain
https://www.thebulwark.com/p/trump-science-cuts-will-be-felt-generations-innovation-discovery-nsf-foundation-marcia-mcnutt
Update. Phillip Levine lists the 77 US #universities that stand to lose the most from three kinds of funding cuts threatened by the #Trump admin: (1) capping indirect costs for #NIH grants at 15%, (2) cutting the #NSF budget by two-thirds, and (3) endowment taxes.
https://www.chronicle.com/article/these-77-colleges-have-the-most-to-lose-from-trumps-cuts
(#paywalled)
PS: Note that there are other kinds of cuts that Levine does not bring into this calculation, like withholding funds from targeted institutions because of their DEI or antisemitism policies.
#Academia #DefendResearch #Funding #Trump #USPol #USPolitics
@academicchatter
#NSF slashes prestigious #PhD #fellowship awards by half
#US National #Science Foundation announces lowest number of Graduate Research Fellowship Programme (#GRFP) recipients in 15 years. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-01098-9
Who needs another generation of #scientists? </s>
"Cuts of 30 to 70% are rumored at USDA next week. NIH & NSF funding is being destroyed & the agencies themselves facing cuts.
About 3,500 nonfederal entomologists depend on these agencies. We're
risking research that protects #ecosystems & #foodsecurity."
It's difficult to keep up with all the atrocities, but we amplify the gravity of the losing these experts, the firings, existential threats... of the #TrumpMusk admin.
#DOGE #Firings #Science #USDA #NIH #NSF #USPol https://www.govexec.com/management/2025/04/some-usda-rif-plans-take-shape-department-warns-employees-major-cuts/404247/
You read that right. 75% of scientists are considering leaving the US. Forgive me (not really) if I'm struggling to understand exactly how this is making the US anything other than diminished, stupid, and ill.
You read that right. 75% of scientists are considering leaving the US. Forgive me (not really) if I'm struggling to understand exactly how this is making the US anything other than diminished, stupid, and ill.
A New Tool to Detect Cellular #Spying | EFFector 37.3
This edition of the newsletter covers our new open source tool to detect cellular spying, #Rayhunter ; The #Foilies2025 , our tongue-in-cheek awards to the worst responses to public records requests; and our recommendations to the #NSF for the new #AI Action Plan to put people first.
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/03/new-tool-detect-cellular-spying-effector-373
@eff to NSF: AI Action Plan Must Put People First
This past January the new administration issued an executive order on #AI taking the place of the now rescinded Biden-era order, calling for a new AI Action Plan tasked with “unburdening” the current AI industry to stoke innovation and remove “engineered social agendas” from the industry. This new action plan for the president is currently being developed and open to public comments to the #NSF
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/03/eff-nsf-ai-action-plan-must-put-people-first
This scientist is horrified by the destruction that the #TrumpMusk regime has wreaked on STEM, scientific institutions, & rational thought.
more bad policy
but given who's making it
stupid's table stakes
On not giving #Musk the boot from the Royal Society: "The intersection of science & politics is both inescapable & of vital importance. Scientists possess unique expertise that is crucial for informed policymaking & societal progress. Embracing political engagement allows scientists to fulfil their ethical responsibilities, defend the integrity of their work & contribute meaningfully to addressing the complex challenges facing society today."
Update. The American Physical Society (#APS, @apsphysics) is running a survey on the impact of cuts to US science #funding. Please take it if you're affected or likely to be affected.
https://apsphysics.fillout.com/t/6ESUva3vwGus
"This survey collects stories showcasing the transformative positive impact of #NSF, #NIST, #DOE, #NASA, and #DOD-funded research and programs as well as what would be lost if support for basic research evaporates. You can document your experiences and share how recent executive actions have impacted you. Individual stories will be only be used publicly with permission or when fully anonymized."
“POC” was targeted because they thought it meant “people of color.” It stood for “point of care” in medical emergencies: This Is the Research Ted Cruz Calls “Woke.”
-J Mayer
“We found the Cruz’s dragnet had swept up numerous examples of scientific projects funded by the #NSF that simply acknowledged social inequalities or were completely unrelated to the social or economic themes cited by the committee.”
#USPol #Science #Research #NIH #Racism #DOGE #Republicans #DEI
https://www.propublica.org/article/ted-cruz-woke-grants-national-science-foundation
Update. "The Rise (and Fall?) of the National Science Foundation"
https://www.chronicle.com/article/the-rise-and-fall-of-the-national-science-foundation
(#paywalled)
"The #Trump administration’s assault on the #NSF represents precisely the kind of political interference [#VannevarBush] sought to prevent — one that threatens not only scientific progress but also the very foundation of academic freedom."
#DOGE Chaos Reaches Antarctica
Daily life at US-run #Antarctic stations has already been disrupted. Scientists worry that the long-term impacts could upend not only important #research but the continent’s delicate #geopolitics
https://www.wired.com/story/doge-antarctica-science-research-china-russia/
"The US Antarctic Program(USAP) operates 3 permanent stations in #Antarctica...
#NSF program managers staffed on Antarctic projects were fired as part of a wider #purge...
“Without them, everything stops”"
#Science Homecoming (https://sciencehomecoming.com) is an amazing project that has U.S. scientists (primarily at universities) write opinion pieces to their hometown newspapers advocating for the #nih and #nsf.
The idea, in a nutshell, is to remind Americans why research (and more generally, science) is important to them and their local communities.
