5/12/25: Can Scientific Research Survive Without Federal Funding? (Inside Higher Ed) Universities are offering temporary relief to researchers whose projects have been disrupted by federal funding cuts. But it won’t help in the long term, and experts say industry and philanthropy are in no position to make up for the losses. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/business/revenue-strategies/2025/05/12/can-scientific-research-survive-without-federal-funding
5/12/25: Using Federally Funded University Research To Power America (Forbes) As we enter a new phase of federal leadership, our commitment to innovation—and our ability to remain globally competitive—must transcend politics. Our future hinges on consistent investment in university research. https://www.forbes.com/councils/forbesbusinesscouncil/2025/05/12/using-federally-funded-university-research-to-power-america/
5/12/25: RIP American innovation (Washington Post, Opinion) It’s fun to be from the most inventive country on Earth. Even when Team U.S.A. fails to medal in table tennis at the Olympics, even when the U.S. president starts a war based on fabricated weapons of mass destruction or raises tariffs on champagne, an American traveling abroad can still take pride in being from the nation that spawned the internet and GPS, and has the most Nobel laureates curing deadly diseases, making intelligent machines and shedding light on the dark secrets of the universe. But, alas, even this trustworthy badge of honor is fraying — and might fall apart. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/05/12/invention-government-funding-trump-musk/
5/11/25: How One Ivy League University Has Avoided Trump’s Retribution So Far (New York Times) Some 600 college leaders recently signed a letter opposing the Trump administration’s interference in higher education. The only Ivy League president who did not sign the letter was Sian Beilock, the president of Dartmouth College. Instead, she wrote her own letter to her campus, saying that higher education institutions should strive to do better, “to further our standing as a trusted beacon for knowledge and truth.”… It is the kind of message, her critics and supporters say, that has so far helped to keep Dartmouth out of the Trump administration’s cross hairs. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/11/us/politics/dartmouth-college-trump.html
5/9/25: The NIH Is Requiring Grantees to Follow Trump’s Anti-Trans Executive Order (The Chronicle) The Chronicle has confirmed that at least two institutions have received grant notices ordering them to comply with Trump’s anti-transgender executive order, marking a new front in the administration’s efforts to reshape the scientific ecosystem and a new challenge for universities who want to keep their federal funding. https://www.chronicle.com/article/the-nih-is-requiring-grantees-to-follow-trumps-anti-trans-executive-order
5/9/25: NSF slashes number of ‘rotators’ and well-paid managers as part of restructuring (Science) For decades the National Science Foundation (NSF) has employed hundreds of scientists on leave from their academic positions who help the agency choose the best research to fund. The extensive use of these so-called rotators is designed to keep the 75-year-old agency on the cutting edge of all fields of science. https://www.science.org/content/article/nsf-slashes-number-rotators-and-well-paid-managers-part-restructuring
5/9/25: US environmental agency halts funding for its main science division (Nature) The administration of US President Donald Trump has blocked funding for research across the Environmental Protection Agency’s main science division, which employs nearly 1,500 people, according to sources inside the agency and internal e-mails seen by Nature. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-01487-0
5/9/25: Can Trump strip Harvard of its charitable status? Scholars of nonprofit law and accounting describe the obstacles in his way (The Conversation) The Conversation U.S. asked Philip Hackney , a nonprofit law professor who previously worked in the office of the chief counsel of the IRS, and Brian Mittendorf , an expert on nonprofit accounting, to explain what it would take for the federal government to revoke a university’s tax-exempt status. https://theconversation.com/can-trump-strip-harvard-of-its-charitable-status-scholars-of-nonprofit-law-and-accounting-describe-the-obstacles-in-his-way-255072
5/8/25: Trump’s Gain-of-Function Order Prompts Questions (MedPage) In the wake of President Donald Trump’s executive order opens in a new tab or window on gain-of-function research, questions linger on exactly how the order will be implemented and about its potential impacts on the study of infectious diseases, experts said. https://www.medpagetoday.com/special-reports/features/115492
