Follow COGR on LinkedInNIH: Implementation of New Initiatives and Policies:
This page serves as a central location where you can learn more about the status of changes impacting NIH grants process and plans for implementing new initiatives and policies.
NIH
Common Forms for Biographical Sketch and Current and Pending (Other) Support
To further support a successful transition to the Common Forms, NIH is postponing the May 25, 2025 implementation for all applications and Research Performance Progress Reports (RPPRs). NIH will issue future Guide Notices outlining the new effective date and additional implementation details as they are finalized. NIH applicants and recipients must continue to use the current NIH Biosketch and Other Support format pages for applications, Just-in-Time (JIT) and RPPRs.
3/26/25E&E News
Trump’s test for GOP lawmakers: Defend him or local universities
Drastic cuts to federal science programs are draining millions of dollars in research funding from universities in Republican-dominated states, testing the support of conservative lawmakers for President Donald Trump’s chaotic reshaping of the U.S. government.
3/26/25ScienceSee also
Exclusive: NIH to cut grants for COVID research, documents reveal (Nature) 3/25/25: Saying ‘pandemic is over,’ NIH starts cutting COVID-19 research
The US National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have begun cancelling billions of dollars in funding on research related to the COVID-19 pandemic. COVID-19 research funds “were issued for a limited purpose: to ameliorate the effects of the pandemic”, according to an internal NIH document that Nature has obtained and that provides the agency’s staff members with updated guidance on how to terminate these grants. “Now that the pandemic is over, the grant funds are no longer necessary,” the document states. It is not clear how many COVID-19 grants will be terminated.
3/26/25GAO-25-107315
Grants Management: Recent Guidance Could Enhance Subaward Oversight
Some federal grant recipients pass some of their award funding to subrecipients. However, there have been issues with the completeness and accuracy of information about these subawards. This can make it challenging to track where subaward funds are ultimately spent. While grant recipients are responsible for overseeing their subawards, federal agencies must ensure that they are effectively doing so. This includes reviewing audit findings and checking that reporting is taking place. Recent guidance from the Office of Management and Budget should enhance this oversight, leading to improved data about subawards, among other things
3/26/25APSee also
Faculty Organizations Sue on Behalf of Columbia Members (Inside Higher Ed) ‘It Is Remarkable How Quickly the Chill Has Descended’ (The Chronicle) Researchers in limbo as Columbia bows to Trump’s demands in bid to restore $400M federal funding
Days after Columbia University yielded to a list of demands from the Trump administration, the American Association of University Professors and the American Federation of Teachers filed a lawsuit on behalf of members at Columbia over $400 million in frozen federal research funding. The lawsuit names multiple government agencies, including the Departments of Justice, Education and Health and Human Services and the General Services Administration
3/26/25
Penn Pledges to ‘Address’ $175M Federal Funding Cut (Inside Higher Ed)
Penn learned last week via news reports that the White House had decided to cancel grants and contracts, a move seemingly aimed at punishing the university over its decision to allow a trans woman to compete on the women’s swimming team three years ago. That decision is also subject to a current civil rights investigation.
3/26/25Inside Higher Ed
Banning DEI Is Catastrophic for U.S. Science
Our scientific enterprise in the United States is the envy of the world…. It is not simply the dollar amount of federal funding that makes this system so successful. It is also about how we allocate and distribute the funds
3/26/25Nature
AI is transforming peer review — and many scientists are worried
AI systems are already transforming peer review — sometimes with publishers’ encouragement, and at other times in violation of their rules. Publishers and researchers alike are testing out AI products to flag errors in the text, data, code and references of manuscripts, to guide reviewers toward more-constructive feedback, and to polish their prose. Some new websites even offer entire AI-created reviews with one click
3/25/25The Chronicle
Is It That Easy for Trump to Revoke Visas?
The State Department has broad authority to revoke visas for students or professors. ICE officers, who are part of Homeland Security, handle arrests and detentions. Customs and Border Protection agents, also part of Homeland Security, can deny entry to a visa holder who has been traveling, even if that person is living in the country or has entered before, experts said.
3/25/25Washington Post
Trump’s picks to lead FDA, NIH confirmed by Senate
Makary and Bhattacharya, both vocal critics of the country’s handling of the covid-19 pandemic, have been confirmed to lead major health agencies.
3/25/25FedScoop
Trump order pushes federal government toward electronic payment methods
he EO moves “America’s bank account” away from paper-based payments in what the White House says is an attempt to cut costs and target fraud
3/25/25The ChronicleSee also
As Trump’s Policies Worry Scientists, France and Others Put Out a Welcome Mat (NY Times) Trump Policies Could Send International Talent Elsewhere, Hobbling U.S. Science
European universities have begun recruiting researchers who lost their jobs in the administration’s cost-cutting efforts, or are anxious over perceived threats to academic freedom.
3/25/25
Trump Is Dismantling the Education Department—With or Without Congress (Wall Street Journal)
In cutting parts of the department, Trump is following the same playbook as with other federal agencies—and inviting legal challenges.
3/24/25Washington Post, Opinion
Funding for R&D isn’t a gift to academia
Just as we did when the Soviet Union drew ahead in the space race, the U.S. must meet the moment by accelerating strategic investments in scientific research and development of future technologies. The space race and U.S. commitment to putting a man on the moon led directly to our world-leading aerospace, microelectronics and internet industries — as well as the trillions of dollars in private economic activity it spurred
3/24/25STAT
Cancer research, long protected, feels ‘devastating’ effects under Trump
Budget cuts and research delays threaten to reverse progress on what had been a bipartisan cause
3/24/25NPR
How the Ph.D. Project, and 45 colleges, became a target of the Trump administration
The U.S. Education Department announced it was investigating 45 universities with graduate schools that partner with the program, …This comes as some universities have already begun to reexamine their DEI-related partnerships, scholarships and programs. …In late February, the administration launched an online form, at enddei.ed.gov , where people could submit reports of discrimination in schools or colleges. The form says submissions will be used "to identify potential areas for investigation
3/21/252 New FAQs
NSF Implementation of Recent Executive Orders
3/20/25South China Morning Post
US House chair asks American universities to reveal info on their Chinese nationals
The chair of a US House committee on Wednesday sent letters to six American universities, including Stanford and Carnegie Mellon, requesting information about their policies on Chinese nationals, in the latest congressional attempt to curb the flow of Chinese students to the US over national security concerns