8/27/25: Agencies Share New Guidance on Foreign Threats at U.S. Colleges (Inside Higher Ed) Warning American colleges and universities about increasing foreign threats to research, a group of federal intelligence agencies and the Education Department released new guidance this week outlining how the institutions can better protect themselves. For example, the 40-page “Safeguarding Academia” bulletin in part encourages colleges and researchers to be transparent about who else is involved in a research project, noting that failing to disclose foreign collaborations could lead to sanctions. The agencies urged researchers to do their due diligence on any potential collaborators and outlined other cybersecurity best practices. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-takes/2025/08/27/agencies-share-guidance-foreign-threats-us-colleges
8/27/25: NIH Publisher Fee Cap Plan ‘Not Comprehensive Enough,’ Critics Say (Inside Higher Ed) The agency has criticized academia’s “perverse” incentive structure that allows publishers to charge researchers costly fees to make their articles freely available. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/government/science-research-policy/2025/08/27/nih-publisher-fee-cap-plan-not-comprehensive
8/27/25: HHS Ends Minority Biomedical Research Support Program (Inside Higher Ed) In a notice published Monday in the Federal Register, HHS secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said the cancellation is to comply with two anti–diversity, equity and inclusion executive orders President Trump signed in January on his first two days back in office, plus the 2023 U.S. Supreme Court decision banning affirmative action in college admissions decisions. The change is effective Sept. 25. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-takes/2025/08/27/hhs-ends-minority-biomedical-research-support-program
8/26/25: ‘Don’t negotiate, Linda’: Trump calls for $500 million Harvard settlement (CNN) President Donald Trump called for Harvard University to pay a sweeping $500 million settlement to restore its federal funding, saying the elite university has been “very bad.” “We want nothing less than $500 million from Harvard. Don’t negotiate, Linda,” Trump said to Education Secretary Linda McMahon during a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday. He continued, “They’ve been very bad. Don’t negotiate.” https://www.cnn.com/2025/08/26/politics/harvard-trump-500-million-settlement
8/26/25: Notice on Update to NOT-OD-05-034 Guidance on Prompt Reporting to OLAW Under the PHS Policy on Humane Care and Use of Laboratory Animals (NOT-OD-25-148) This Notice provides updates to guidance that was published in NOT-OD-05-034 Guidance on Prompt Reporting to OLAW Under the PHS Policy on Humane Care and Use of Laboratory Animals (February 24, 2005). https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-25-148.html
8/26/25: Court Prioritizes First Filer in Patent ‘Derivation’ Appeal (Bloomberg Law) The appeals court tweaked the Patent Trial and Appeal Board for part of its analysis in awarding Marc Selner’s application priority over Global Health Solutions LLC’s application. The PTAB’s focus on who was first to invent, however, was “no more than harmless error” as the tribunal had, in the process, correctly “determined that he independently conceived” of the jelly made of polyhexamethylene biguanide, or PHMB, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit said in a precedential opinion . https://news.bloomberglaw.com/pharma-and-life-sciences/court-prioritizes-first-filer-in-patent-derivation-appeal?context=search&index=10
8/25/25: Class Deviation—Use of the Clause on Contractor Compliance With the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification Level Requirement (DoD) https://www.acq.osd.mil/dpap/policy/policyvault/USA001756-25-DPCAP.pdf
