Accelerating Research Translation (ART) (NSF) The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) seeks to increase the scale and pace of advancing discoveries resulting from academic research into tangible solutions that benefit the public. The overarching goal for the Accelerating Research Translation (ART) program is to advance the U.S. scientific and economic leadership by building capacity and increasing the number of robust translational research ecosystems in Institutions of Higher Education (IHEs) that span across the full geography of our nation. Innovations can occur anywhere and can be opportunities for creating sustained impacts in every single region of the United States. Achieving translational outcomes as a mechanism to drive sustained economic impacts is the primary aim of the “Accelerating Research Translation” (ART) program. https://www.nsf.gov/funding/opportunities/art-accelerating-research-translation?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery
12/3/25: Why Trump and Harvard Have Not Reached a Deal (New York Times) President Trump has claimed for months that his administration and Harvard University were close to a monumental deal to end his extraordinary pressure campaign against the university. Even some at Harvard say that a deal appeared imminent this summer. But eight months after the rupture between Harvard and the government blew open, no deal has materialized. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/03/us/politics/trump-harvard.html
12/3/25: AI reviewers are here — we are not ready (Nature) Artificial intelligence promises rapid and polite feedback on papers — but we must first review the reviewer. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-03909-5
12/2/25: As Energy Department prioritizes AI and fusion, basic research faces squeeze (Science) The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is reorganizing its scientific efforts by establishing new offices for types of research favored by the White House. A two-paragraph press release and revised organizational chart issued on 20 November announced the launch of an Office of Fusion and an Office of Artificial Intelligence and Quantum. DOE provided no further details, but the move worries scientists. The new offices could be formed by carving pieces out of DOE’s storied Office of Science, the United States’s largest funder of the physical sciences and its builder of big facilities from x-ray sources to atom smashers. https://www.science.org/content/article/energy-department-prioritizes-ai-and-fusion-basic-research-faces-squeeze
12/2/25: White House OSTP Issues RFI Regarding “Accelerating the American Scientific Enterprise” (National Law Review) OSTP states that “[t]hrough this Request for Information (RFI), OSTP seeks input from academia; private sector organizations; industry groups; state, local, and tribal governments; and other stakeholders regarding priorities for strengthening the science and technology (S&T) ecosystem to support both the expansion of scientific knowledge and the mechanisms to transition these discoveries into the marketplace.” According to OSTP, the RFI “will inform the formulation of Executive branch efforts to advance and maintain U.S. S&T leadership.” Responses are due on Boxing Day, December 26, 2025. https://natlawreview.com/article/white-house-ostp-issues-rfi-regarding-accelerating-american-scientific-enterprise
12/2/25: DOJ Files Response To Immigration Lawsuit Against $100,000 H-1B Fee (Forbes) The Department of Justice has responded to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s lawsuit against the president’s $100,000 fee imposed on the entry of new H-1B visa holders. The immigration fee was contained in a Sept. 19 presidential proclamation . In the Defendants’ response and cross motion for summary judgment, the Trump administration rejected arguments made by the Chamber of Commerce and the American Association of Universities, which joined the lawsuit as a plaintiff. DOJ argues the president has “extraordinarily broad discretion to suspend the entry of aliens whenever he finds their admission ‘detrimental to the interest of the United States.’” https://www.forbes.com/sites/stuartanderson/2025/12/02/doj-files-response-to-immigration-lawsuit-against-100000-h-1b-fee/
12/1/25: (GENERAL-25-46) New Reporting Portal for Reporting of Foreign Gifts and Contracts under Section 117 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 – Implementation Planned for January 2026 and Reminder of January Reporting Deadline (DoEd) Section 117 of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (20 U.S.C. § 1011f), provides that institutions of higher education (IHEs) must file a disclosure report with the U.S. Department of Education (ED) whenever the institution is owned or controlled by a foreign source or receives a gift from or enters into a contract with a foreign source, the value of which is $250,000 or more, considered alone or in combination with all other gifts from or contracts with that foreign source within a calendar year. In an effort to update and improve the Section 117 reporting portal, ED will launch a new reporting portal on Jan. 2, 2026. https://fsapartners.ed.gov/knowledge-center/library/electronic-announcements/2025-12-01/new-reporting-portal-reporting-foreign-gifts-and-contracts-under-section-117-higher-education-act-1965-implementation-planned-january-2026-and-reminder-january-reporting-deadline
12/1/25: Genesis Mission: why Trump’s plan to put AIs in charge of science could backfire (The Conversation) Donald Trump’s new “Genesis Mission” initiative promises to use artificial intelligence to reinvent how science is done, in a bid to move the dial on the hardest challenges in areas like robotics, biotech and nuclear fusion. https://theconversation.com/genesis-mission-why-trumps-plan-to-put-ais-in-charge-of-science-could-backfire-270915
