12/15/25: Grant cuts, arrests, lay-offs: Trump made 2025 a tumultuous year for science (Nature) How the Trump administration caused seismic disruptions to the world’s premier scientific superpower. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-04051-y
See also: Postscripts from the frontlines of Trump’s attacks on science: no simple happy endings (STAT) https://www.statnews.com/2025/12/11/american-science-shattered-series-impact-of-research-funding-cuts/
12/12/25: NIH’s proposed caps on open-access publishing fees roil scientific community (Science) Sometime next year, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) will announce new limits on how much funding grantees can spend on publication fees to make their articles open access, or free to read. The agency says it aims to reduce “ unreasonably high ” article-processing charges (APCs), a goal many researchers embrace. But public comments released last week from more than 900 researchers, academic institutions, and publishers reveal deep concerns about a proposal that one commenter, radiologist Geoffrey Young at Mass General Brigham, calls “well-intentioned, but misguided.” https://www.science.org/content/article/nih-s-proposed-caps-open-access-publishing-fees-roil-scientific-community
12/12/25: NSF announces new initiative to launch and scale a new generation of transformative independent research organizations to advance breakthrough science (NSF) The U.S. National Science Foundation Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships (NSF TIP) on Friday announced the launch of a new initiative designed to launch and scale a new generation of independent research organizations. These organizations will focus on technical challenges and bottlenecks that traditional university and industry labs cannot easily solve on their own. NSF seeks feedback on this initiative through a Request for Information (RFI) . https://www.nsf.gov/news/nsf-announces-new-initiative-launch-scale-new-generation
12/11/25: Pot Stocks Rise on Trump Plan to Ease Cannabis Restrictions (1) (Bloomberg Law) While Trump may seek changes to the current status, including through an executive order, rescheduling would likely only take effect after the government finishes a rulemaking process that has been on hold since January. https://news.bloomberglaw.com/pharma-and-life-sciences/trump-plans-to-push-for-cannabis-rescheduling-as-less-dangerous?context=search&index=25
12/11/25: Congress imposes new security restrictions on U.S. researchers (Science) The U.S. House of Representatives yesterday passed the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which contains some controversial new restrictions on research collaborations with China and other “countries of concern.” But the bill, which the Senate is expected to approve next week, drops other research security proposals that had drawn objections from the U.S. scientific community, and blocks a plan by the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) to unilaterally reduce the overhead payments it makes to grantees. https://www.science.org/content/article/congress-imposes-new-security-restrictions-u-s-researchers
