Follow COGR on LinkedIn5/4/26Inside Higher Ed
After Board Wiped Out, 13 Former NSF Leaders Call for New Members, Director
Thirteen former leaders of the National Science Foundation are asking the Senate and the Trump administration to install leaders for the agency, after its director resigned more than a year ago and the White House ousted the entire National Science Board last month. The board oversees the research funding agency, which has a nearly $9 billion annual budget.
5/4/26Inside Higher Ed
‘Vulnerable’ Medical Schools Caught in MAGA’s Crosshairs
Republicans are scrutinizing “woke” medical schools. But experts warn that bowing to political pressure could hurt the future of public health, research and higher education.
5/4/26STAT
Immigration changes are driving foreign researchers to leave the U.S. — or not come to begin with
Being on a visa in the U.S. always carried uncertainty, she said, and the renewal did come through. But the greater unpredictability of the Trump administration’s immigration machinery, and the added friction layered into the system, became a sticking point for her. Instead of gearing up for the postdoc, and perhaps needing to go through more visa entanglements, she will return to India to start a job at a biotech company after earning her Ph.D
5/1/26New York Times
N.I.H. Reinstates Employee Put on Leave After Criticizing Trump Research Cuts
A National Institutes of Health employee who was put on paid leave after organizing a public letter that criticized the Trump administration said on Friday that she had been reinstated — a move that followed the reinstatement of 14 Federal Emergency Management Agency employees who had signed a critical letter of their own. The employee, Jenna Norton, was a key organizer of “ The Bethesda Declaration,” issued in June 2025 and signed by nearly 500 N.I.H. employees, which deplored the degradation of medical research under Mr. Trump.
5/1/26Scientific American
US lawmakers vote to cut science spending—but reject Trump’s sweeping reductions
Members of the US House of Representatives signalled that they would again reject a proposal by the administration of US President Donald Trump to slash science spending . But the bill advanced by a House subcommittee on Thursday still calls for substantial cuts to science education and spending by agencies such as the National Science Foundation (NSF). The Senate, which also has a say on federal budgets, has yet to schedule a hearing on its own spending bill.
4/30/26STAT
Securing NIH awards is getting more competitive — and confusing
The likelihood of snagging National Institutes of Health grants has plunged to historic lows, forcing frustrated academic researchers to resort to a variety of tactics to try to obtain funding and, in some cases, keep their jobs, according to a nationwide STAT survey and follow-up interviews with respondents.