New/Updated NSF FAQs (as of 4/25):
- New: Q. I submitted a preliminary proposal to the NSF Science and Technology Centers: Integrative Partnerships (STC) solicitation (NSF 24-594). When will I hear back about whether we are invited to submit a full STC proposal? Has the due date for invited full proposals changed?
- A. The NSF STC program has finished sending out invitations to those who are invited to submit a full proposal. Program staff are continuing to process the paperwork for the preliminary proposals that are not being invited to submit full proposals, and NSF is sending out those decisions and the proposal reviews as expeditiously as possible. The due date for submission of invited full STC proposals (June 2, 2025) has not changed.
- Updated: Q. Are REU Sites continuing? How do the Executive Orders affect Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) programs?
- A. NSF continues to fund REU Sites and REU Supplements, and these activities continue to operate as described in the REU solicitation. Like most NSF scholarship, fellowship and traineeship opportunities, admission to REU Sites is highly competitive, with many students applying for a limited number of slots. For the FY 2025 competition cycle (i.e., proposals submitted for the annual deadline in August 2024), the agency is making some awards but is still making decisions about other proposals as NSF’s budget for FY 2025 is finalized. NSF realizes that delayed decisions and notifications may impact sites that were hoping to run during the summer of 2025.
4/28/25: Health Groups, UAW Move to Block NIH’s Terminated Research Funds (Bloomberg Law) Public health groups representing thousands of researchers and scientists are seeking to block the Trump administration’s moves to terminate hundreds of research grants funded by the National Institutes of Health. The American Public Health Association, Ibis Reproductive Health, the United Auto Workers union, and other researchers said they would likely suffer irreparable harm without an injunction against the NIH’s directives that terminated grants no longer in line with the Trump administration’s priorities. https://news.bloomberglaw.com/pharma-and-life-sciences/pi-1
4/27/25: Federal cuts to National Institutes of Health could threaten medical progress (CBS 60 Minutes, Former NIH Director Francis Collins Interview): https://www.cbsnews.com/video/nih-cuts-medical-progress-60-minutes-video-2025-04-27/
See COGR’s LinkedIn Post on the segment: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7322431712397774850
4/27/25: Emerging From a Collective Silence, Universities Organize to Fight Trump (New York Times) … after weeks of witnessing the administration freeze billions in federal funding, demand changes to policies and begin investigations, a broad coalition of university leaders publicly opposing those moves is taking root. The most visible evidence yet was a statement last week signed by more than 400 campus leaders opposing what they saw as the administration’s assault on academia. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/27/us/trump-university-presidents.html
See also: Elite Universities Form Private Collective to Resist Trump Administration (Wall Street Journal) https://www.wsj.com/us-news/education/elite-universities-form-private-collective-to-resist-trump-administration-95a14ff3?mod=education_news_article_pos1
4/27/25: As Harvard fights Trump, one campus quietly prepares for the worst (Washington Post) The Trump administration’s letter to George Washington University came on Feb. 27… Leaders at GWU soon responded, saying they’d participate in any inquiry…. University leaders have been meeting regularly to figure out how to respond to action by President Donald Trump, according to four people familiar with the university’s planning who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe sensitive discussions. Previous efforts are finding renewed urgency. https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2025/04/27/gwu-harvard-trump-antisemitism/
4/26/25: After Federal Grant Losses, HBCUs Put Hope in Executive Order (Inside Higher Ed) Federal agencies cut some grants to historically Black colleges in efforts to quash DEI. HBCU leaders hope a new executive order supporting their institutions creates a positive shift. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/institutions/minority-serving-institutions/2025/04/28/after-federal-grant-losses-hbcus-put#
4/25/25: NIH Gets Institute, Center Acting Directors After Mass Layoffs (Bloomberg Law) The acting director appointments shared Friday with the agency replace leaders who were affected by the US Department of Health and Human Services’ reduction-in-force on April 1. The layoffs targeted 1,200 employees at the NIH, which sought to centralize procurement, human resources, and communications across its 27 institutes and centers. https://news.bloomberglaw.com/pharma-and-life-sciences/nih-gets-institute-center-acting-directors-after-mass-layoffs?context=search&index=11
4/25/25: Trump is destroying 100 years of competitive advantage in 100 days (The Washington Post, Opinion) https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/04/25/us-losing-competitive-edge-science/
4/25/25: UC Berkeley Faces Foreign Gifts Investigation (Inside Higher Ed) The Education Department is investigating the University of California, Berkeley, regarding compliance with a federal law that requires colleges to disclose certain foreign gifts and contracts. It’s the first such review launched since President Trump signed an executive order Wednesday aimed at increasing transparency over the “ foreign influence at American universities .” https://www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-takes/2025/04/25/uc-berkeley-faces-foreign-gifts-investigation
4/25/25: Hundreds more NSF grants terminated after agency director resigns (Nature) Fresh turmoil has hit the US National Science Foundation (NSF): hundreds more of the agency’s research grants were terminated today on top of the hundreds already terminated last week , Nature has learnt. The new terminations come one day after the agency’s director abruptly resigned and NSF staff members were offered incentives to retire early due to “future restructuring, staffing reduc tions, and constrained budget environments”. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-01312-8
4/25/25: OMB preaches patience, flexibility as acquisition reforms take off (Fed News Network) Kevin Rhodes, a senior advisor at the Office of Management and Budget, is asking for a little patience and flexibility…One key step in this transparency process is OMB implementation guidance, which Rhodes said is coming shortly. https://federalnewsnetwork.com/ask-the-cio/2025/04/omb-preaches-patience-flexibility-as-acquisition-reforms-take-off/
4/25/25: My fight to unlock cannabis and psychedelic drugs for use in medical research (Nature) https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-01298-3
