Follow COGR on LinkedIn12/17/25Nature
Seven feel-good science stories to restore your faith in 2025
Immense progress in gene-editing, drug discovery and conservation are just some of the reasons to be cheerful about 2025
12/17/25NOT-OD-26-023
Request for Information on Draft NIH Controlled-Access Data Policy and Proposed Revisions to NIH Genomic Data Sharing Policy
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is requesting public input on its proposal to establish harmonized and transparent policy requirements for protecting human participant research data. Specifically, NIH proposes (1) establishing policy requirements for which data should be controlled-access under NIH data sharing policies, and (2) revising the NIH Genomic Data Sharing Policy to simplify and harmonize requirements.
12/17/25Inside Higher Ed
NSF Lowers Grant Review Requirements, NIH Hunts for Phrases
Two major federal research funding agencies are altering their grant review processes. The National Science Foundation (NSF) is scaling back its reviews of grant proposals, according to a Dec. 1 internal memo that Science obtained and published , while STAT reported that the National Institutes of Health distributed guidance Friday ordering staff to use a “text analysis tool” to search for certain phrases.
12/17/25The Conversation
Trump’s second term is reshaping US science with unprecedented cuts and destabilizing policy changes
Before 2025, science policy rarely made headline news. Through decades of changing political winds, financial crises and global conflicts, funding for U.S. research and innovation has remained remarkably stable , reflecting the American public’s strong support for investing in basic science. In his first year back in office, President Donald Trump’s relentless attempts to overhaul the federal support system for research and development has put science policy back above the fold .
12/16/25Inside Higher Ed, COGR mentioned
Research Groups Oppose Capping NIH Funding of Publisher Fees
The National Institutes of Health received roughly 900 comments on its various proposals to limit how much of its grant dollars are eaten up by journals’ publication charges. Major science groups called the approaches wrong… “Our organizations strongly urge NIH to explore other mechanisms for addressing concerns around publication costs—approaches that recognize that neither institutions nor individual investigators have control over publication costs,” read a joint comment from the Association of American Medical Colleges, the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities, the Association of American Universities (AAU) and COGR. The groups said “these costs are controlled entirely by publishers.”
12/16/25Holland & Knight
White House Invites Suggestions for Improving U.S. Research Policy
The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) published a request for information (RFI) on Nov. 26, 2025, seeking input from academia, private sector industry groups and other relevant stakeholders on federal policies "aim[ed] to accelerate the American scientific enterprise, enable groundbreaking discoveries, and ensure that scientific progress and technological innovation benefit all Americans." The RFI indicates that responses will "inform the formulation of Executive branch efforts to advance and maintain U.S [science and technology] leadership.
12/16/25The Chronicle
Are Bad Researchers Bad People?
The absence of humility, integrity, and open-mindedness isn’t just a moral failure. It’s a methodological one
12/16/25Science
Fired NIH institute head sues Trump administration
Jeanne Marrazzo, the former head of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), today sued the federal government, which fired her on 26 September. Her suit claims it did so in retaliation for a whistleblower complaint she filed against the Trump administration
12/16/25Nature
How my institution strengthened research despite chronic underfunding
As a scientist and administrator at Meharry Medical College — a 150-year-old private historically Black health-sciences institution in Nashville, Tennessee, with some 1,500 students — I’ve seen how hard it can be to manage on scant budgets. I urge the government to redress funding levels. In the meantime, HBCUs and TCUs can target their investments, as Meharry has done with some success.
12/15/25The Hill
Senators brace for another possible shutdown in January
Senators in both parties are bracing for another government shutdown next year after Republicans blocked a proposal to extend expiring health insurance subsidies, the issue that triggered the 43-day closure that consumed much of the fall calendar
12/15/25STAT
NIH specifies how grant reviewers should ensure alignment with Trump priorities
Signaling a move toward the next phase of change, leaders at the National Institutes of Health have sent new guidance to its staff on how to further move its $39 billion grant portfolio into alignment with the Trump administration’s priorities.
12/15/25Nature
More than half of researchers now use AI for peer review — often against guidance
A survey of 1,600 academics found that more than 50% have used artificial-intelligence tools while peer reviewing manuscripts
12/15/25Science
NSF pares down grant-review process, reducing influence of outside scientists
To ease the burden on a staff that has shrunk significantly since President Donald Trump took office, the National Science Foundation (NSF) is reducing the role of outside experts in reviewing grant proposals. The changes permit as few as one outside review rather than the current minimum of three, end the routine use of expert panels to discuss those individual reviews, and give program managers greater authority to recommend which proposals should or should not be funded. They are described in an internal 1 December staff memo that Science has obtained and mentioned briefly in an update to NSF’s grantmaking manual posted on 8 December.
12/15/25Executive Gov
OMB Memo Outlines Contractual Requirements to Ensure Compliance With Unbiased AI Principles
The Office of Management and Budget has released a memorandum outlining contractual requirements to ensure that large language models, or LLMs, procured by the federal government comply with unbiased artificial intelligence principles
December 2025