12/1/25: A behind-the-scenes view of Trump’s war against higher education (The Hill, Opinion) The response to the alleged politicization of universities was more politicization. Donald Trump has made this program a cornerstone of his policy for dealing with higher education . https://thehill.com/opinion/education/5626783-trump-administration-university-interference/
12/1/25: The best and brightest scientists won’t put up with this (Washington Post, Opinion) The assumption that top researchers will endure any visa hardship to stay in the U.S. is obsolete. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/12/01/america-visa-research-scientists-stem/
12/1/25: China wants to lead the world on AI regulation — will the plan work? (Nature) Having placed artificial intelligence at the centre of its own economic strategy, China is driving efforts to create an international system to govern the technology’s use. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-03902-y
11/29/25: Northwestern Settles With Trump Administration (Inside Higher Ed) Northwestern will pay $75 million and walk back a 2024 deal with student protesters, among other concessions, in order to restore hundreds of millions in research funding. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/government/politics-elections/2025/11/29/northwestern-settles-trump-administration
11/28/25: USPTO issues revised inventorship guidance for AI-assisted inventions. The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) today published revised inventorship guidance for AI-assisted inventions, rescinding its February 2024 guidance on this topic in its entirety. https://public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2025-21457.pdf?utm_campaign=subscriptioncenter&utm_content=&utm_medium=email&utm_name=&utm_source=govdelivery&utm_term=
11/27/25: My not-so-favorite year (Science, Editorial) As 2025 comes to a close, it’s a good time to step back and assess one of the most tumultuous years in the history of American science. The second Trump administration has brought cuts to so many important efforts. Grants aimed at important aspects of science have been abruptly terminated, and the ability of science to welcome talent from all over the world was curtailed. Government attacks on the scientific enterprise have sent a discouraging message to future scientists, raising the specter of a lost generation of scientific talent in the United States. All of this has been compounded by the slashing of programs that allow people who have been traditionally excluded from science to participate more fully. https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aee0939
11/26/25: Why the world must wake up to China’s science leadership (Nature) https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-03853-4
11/26/25: Universities May Lose State Dept. Partnership Due to Trump’s Anti-DEI Crusade (Inside Higher Ed) An unfinalized list shows 38 institutions would be kicked out of a State Department program over alleged diversity, equity and inclusion hiring practices, The Guardian reported. The department won’t elaborate beyond saying it’s following the “President’s agenda.” https://www.insidehighered.com/news/diversity/2025/11/26/colleges-may-lose-state-dept-partnership-anti-dei-crusade
11/24/25: Trump orders wide-ranging “Genesis Mission” to boost AI research (Axios) President Trump signed an executive order Monday aimed at boosting AI research and development, with an eye toward reducing Americans’ spiraling energy costs. https://www.axios.com/2025/11/24/trump-ai-genesis-mission-doe-chris-wright
See also: Fact Sheet: https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2025/11/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-unveils-the-genesis-missionto-accelerate-ai-for-scientific-discovery/
See also: Trump aims to boost AI innovation, build platform to harness government data (Reuters) https://www.reuters.com/business/trump-aims-boost-ai-innovation-build-platform-harness-government-data-2025-11-24/
11/24/25: Updated Guidance on Reopening of NIH Extramural Activities Following the October 1, 2025 – Lapse in Appropriations (NOT-OD-26-012): https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-26-012.html
See also: NIH Operates Under a Continuing Resolution (NOT-OD-26-011) https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-26-011.html
11/24/25: Important Notice No. 149: Updates to NSF Research Security Policies (Effective December 2, 2025) In our ongoing work to ensure NSF-funded projects are free of malign foreign interference and misappropriation, NSF is taking the following steps. These policy updates were developed pursuant to Congressional mandates and Executive Orders and have been refined with extensive stakeholder input. https://www.nsf.gov/notices/important/important-notice-no-149-updates-nsf-research-security/in149#1
11/24/25: NIH shake-up to grant decision-making sparks concern over political meddling (Science) In a potentially dramatic change to how it chooses what science to fund, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is ending a long-running practice at many of its institutes of establishing, and making public, a threshold peer-review score needed for a grant application’s approval. Instead of many NIH investigator grant decisions being determined by such cutoffs, known as paylines, all 27 institutes and centers must now consider factors such as an institute’s priorities, the applicant’s career stage and existing funding, and even their geographic location. https://www.science.org/content/article/nih-shake-grant-decision-making-draws-concerns-political-meddling
Resumption of Operations at NSF (Last Update 11/17/25): https://www.nsf.gov/resumption-operations
