Improving the Regulatory Efficiency and Reducing Administrative Workload to Strengthen Competitiveness and Productivity of U.S. Research
(To recommend an expert, nominations will close April 4: https://survey.alchemer.com/s3/8248252/Improving-the-Regulatory-Efficiency-and-Reducing-Administrative-Workload-to-Strengthen-Competitiveness-and-Productivity-of-U-S-Research-Call-for-Experts )
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine are seeking suggestions for experts to participate in a new fast-track consensus study focused on improving the regulatory efficiency of and reducing the administrative workload associated with conducting research at institutions of higher education. Within six months, the study committee will produce a brief report that presents a menu of prioritized options for federal actions, including initiatives by the White House and executive agencies or Congress. National Academies staff are looking for suggestions to build a committee of approximately 10 volunteer experts to be comprised of individuals with expertise in the federal regulatory and compliance landscape, university research administrators, active researchers representing key research disciplines and types of institutions (including non-R1 institutions), and legal experts. Interested individuals should be available and plan to dedicate time to the study during Summer 2025.
3/28/25: As NIH Pulls Funding, Scientist Worries About ‘Frightening Implications’ (Inside Higher Ed) The National Institutes of Health claimed that numerous canceled research grants were “antithetical to the scientific inquiry.” A clinical psychology researcher who lost her grant says that characterization smacks of ignorance. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/government/science-research-policy/2025/03/28/nih-grant-terminations-have-frightening
See also: Universities Reeling from Trump Cuts Fear for a ‘Lost Generation’ of Scientists (Scientific American) https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/trump-cuts-threaten-universities-could-lead-to-lost-generation-of-scientists/
3/28/25: Trump restricts federal research funding, a lifeblood for colleges (AP News) The squeeze on higher education underscores how much American colleges depend on the federal government — a provider of grants and contracts that have amounted to close to half the total revenue of some research universities, according to an Associated Press analysis. It adds up to a crisis for universities, and a problem for the country as a whole, say school administrators and advocates for academic freedom. America’s scientific and medical research capabilities are tightly entwined with its universities as part of a compact that started after World War II to develop national expertise and knowledge. https://apnews.com/article/college-federal-funding-trump-a236cc302fa773e5ddd91661f61593a9
3/28/25: Trump’s college funding threats can’t be offset by their endowments (Axios) Endowments, also under a federal microscope, largely help offset students’ tuition costs. “Endowments are not a savings account,” said Steven M. Bloom, assistant vice president of government relations at the American Council on Education. “There’s a common misperception generally and among policymakers in particular.” https://www.axios.com/2025/03/28/university-endowments-trump-administration-federal-funding
3/28/25: Rector: Recruiting U.S. Scholars Can Protect ‘Threatened Research’ (Inside Higher Ed) Universities should offer opportunities to U.S. talent because it can “prevent fruitful lines of enquiry from being abruptly cut off,” says head of leading European institution. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/global/2025/03/28/rector-recruiting-us-scholars-can-protect-threatened-research
See also: European institutions target ‘scientific asylum-seekers’ from US (The Hill) https://thehill.com/policy/international/5218277-european-universities-target-scientists-us/
3/28/25: Trump Administration Revokes 300 Student Visas (Inside Higher Ed) Yesterday two Ph.D. students with revoked visas were detained by immigration agents and now await deportation: an Iranian student at the University of Alabama and a Turkish student at Tufts University in Massachusetts. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-takes/2025/03/28/trump-administration-revokes-300-student-visas-more-come
3/27/25: House passes bill to lower foreign reporting threshold to $50K (Higher Ed Dive) The House passed a bill Thursday that would require colleges to report all foreign gifts and contracts from “countries of concern” and bar them from working with those countries without annual approval from the U.S. secretary of education. https://www.highereddive.com/news/house-passes-bill-to-lower-foreign-reporting-threshold-to-50k/743794/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Issue:%202025-03-28%20Higher%20Ed%20Dive%20%5Bissue:71715%5D&utm_term=Higher%20Ed%20Dive
3/27/25: These universities are in Trump’s crosshairs. Many don’t know why. (Reuters) The March 10 letter to 60 institutions, signed by the Education Department’s acting civil rights chief Craig Trainor, focused on antisemitic activity following the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks on Israel. It warned that Donald Trump’s administration would not tolerate antisemitic acts – and institutions that did risked losing federal government funding. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/these-universities-are-trumps-crosshairs-many-dont-know-why-2025-03-27/
3/27/25: How Trump is following Project 2025’s radical roadmap to defund science (Nature) Indiscriminate firings . Terminated grants . Cancelled programmes . The barrage of actions by US President Donald Trump has shocked the country’s research community over the past two months . Yet, much of it was planned out years in advance and laid out publicly. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-00780-2
3/27/25: These 5 words have killed millions in grants and advanced Trump’s agenda (Washington Post, COGR Director Cindy Hope quoted) An obscure regulation covering federal grants is being deployed by Trump’s appointees to terminate grants unilaterally across the government . Article Link
3/27/25: Faced With Frozen NIH Funding, These Universities Are Trying to Fill the Gap (The Chronicle) Going into February, Andrew P. Capaldi was confident that the National Institutes of Health would fund his lab at the University of Arizona for the 15th year in a row. Instead, the agency unexpectedly shut down its review process and threw thousands of grant applications, including his, into limbo. https://www.chronicle.com/article/faced-with-frozen-nih-funding-these-universities-are-trying-to-fill-the-gap
3/27/25: Confusion and worry as DOGE cuts hit NASA (Science ) Just before midnight on Friday, 21 March, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) announced in a post on X that NASA had terminated $420 million in “unneeded contracts.” Just what had been eliminated was unclear. But since then, scientists and space policy experts have found evidence for tens of millions of dollars worth of possible cuts, including within programs focused on science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) outreach and diversity efforts. https://www.science.org/content/article/confusion-and-worry-doge-cuts-hit-nasa
3/27/25: Trump plan for overhauling health agencies will cut 10,000 positions (Science) The cuts were first reported by The Wall Street Journal and described in an HHS press release and fact sheet earlier today. The National Institutes of Health (NIH), which must lose 1200 positions, took a lighter hit than some expected. Many of the positions eliminated are likely to be administrative, although exactly which employees will lose their jobs isn’t yet clear. https://www.science.org/content/article/trump-plan-overhauling-health-agencies-will-cut-10-000-positions
See also: RFK Jr.’s Revamp Creates Office to ‘Make America Healthy Again’ (Bloomberg Law) https://news.bloomberglaw.com/pharma-and-life-sciences/rfk-jr-s-revamp-creates-office-to-make-america-healthy-again?context=search&index=9
3/27/25: 75% of US scientists who answered Nature poll consider leaving (Nature) The massive changes in US research brought about by the new administration of President Donald Trump are causing many scientists in the country to rethink their lives and careers. More than 1,200 scientists who responded to a Nature poll — three-quarters of the total respondents — are considering leaving the United States following the disruptions prompted by Trump. Europe and Canada were among the top choices for relocation. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-00938-y
3/27/25: Chevron Is Dead. The Supreme Court May Revive Non-Delegation Next (Bloomberg Law) Last year, the US Supreme Court overruled the 40-year old Chevron deference doctrine, opening up new opportunities to challenge agency action. This term, the Supreme Court is considering an equally weighty question: When does Congress grant an agency so much open-ended power that it violates the non-delegation doctrine? The Supreme Court heard arguments on that question yesterday in FCC v. Consumers’ Research, and the outcome could have a significant effect on federal programs and litigation against federal agencies. https://news.bloomberglaw.com/pharma-and-life-sciences/chevron-is-dead-the-supreme-court-may-revive-non-delegation-next?context=search&index=26
3/26/25: Trump officials will screen NIH funding opportunities (Science) After a 2-month hiatus, the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) plans to resume posting notices of new solicitations for grant proposals. But there’s a catch: NIH’s parent federal agency, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and a more recent White House creation, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), will review each draft notice to ensure the research that will be funded aligns with the priorities of President Donald Trump’s administration, Science has learned from multiple sources within NIH. https://www.science.org/content/article/trump-officials-will-screen-nih-funding-opportunities
3/26/25: Trump’s test for GOP lawmakers: Defend him or local universities (E&E News, COGR President Matt Owens quoted) Universities have limited options to compensate for federal funding losses, said Matt Owens, president of the Council on Governmental Relations, an association of U.S. research institutes. “Unfortunately, all options to deal with federal research cuts are sub-optimal,” he said. “I hope policymakers will focus on building support for sustaining strong and growing research investments to out-compete China and other economic competitors.” https://www.eenews.net/articles/trumps-test-for-gop-lawmakers-defend-him-or-local-universities/
3/26/25: This Time, Higher Ed’s Resistance to Trump is Being Led by Its Associations (The Chronicle) As the Trump administration has issued a volley of executive orders and policy directives aimed at higher education over the past two months, the sector’s fight back has been led not by individual institutions — like often happened during his first term — but by its acronym-heavy associations. https://www.chronicle.com/article/this-time-higher-eds-resistance-to-trump-is-being-led-by-its-associations
See COGR’s 2025 Administration Transition Resources here: https://www.cogr.edu/2025-administration-transition-information-resources
3/26/25: This State’s Public Universities Must Overhaul Academic Programs or Lose Millions in Funding (The Chronicle) Republican lawmakers recently cut millions of dollars in funding for Utah’s eight public universities. To get it back, universities will have to overhaul their academic programs by considering eliminations of majors, jobs, and more. https://www.chronicle.com/article/this-states-public-universities-must-overhaul-academic-programs-or-lose-millions-in-funding
3/25/25: Saying ‘ pandemic is over,’ NIH starts cutting COVID-19 research (Science) The White House appears to have a new target for its cuts to research funding: Grants linked to COVID-19, which President Donald Trump and his appointees have decided are a waste of money because the pandemic is over. https://www.science.org/content/article/saying-pandemic-over-nih-institute-starts-cutting-covid-19-research
3/21/25: NASA GRANT AND COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT MANUAL (GCAM), Effective March 21, 2025: https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/gcam-mar-2025.pdf?emrc=982b64
See also: NASA Grant & Cooperative Agreement Terms and Conditions, Effective March 21, 2025: https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/gcat-mar-2025.pdf?emrc=4d0aa8
