Wondering why NIH and NSF aren't making new grants? We explain what's happening at OMB. www.science.org/content/arti...

NSF leaders have just acknowledged what many scientists have long suspected: Presidential directives to boost AI and quantum have upended its traditional way of doing business. www.science.org/content/arti...

How the Trump administration blew up the upcoming one-and-only field test of the 2030 census www.science.org/content/arti...

Is Jim O'Neill a good fit for NSF?https://www.science.org/content/article/trump-s-nsf-pick-stranger-its-research-community

Some have speculated that Trump won’t be upset if the Senate votes down O’Neill as the agency’s 16th director. If that happens, the agency could be facing an extended period of interim leaders. 7/7

Last fall NSF announced a major reorganization, with career federal employees replacing academics on leave from their institutions as heads of its eight research directorates and its chief management officer, Micah Cheatham, taking on a larger role. 6/7

An independent agency with a budget of nearly $9 billion, NSF has been led for the past 10 months by Panchanathan’s chief of staff, Brian Stone. During that time, it has lost 40% of its PhD-level staff of senior managers and program officers. 5/7

O'Neill earned a bachelor’s degree in humanities in 1990 from Yale University and was a senior administrator at HHS under President George W. Bush. After leaving government in 2008 he managed a hedge fund and venture capital firm, both led by Thiel, and was CEO of the Thiel Foundation. 5/7

NSF’s most recent director, Sethuraman Panchanathan, resigned in April 2025 a year before his 6-year term ended. “I’ve done all I can,” he said at the time. Winning Senate confirmation could be a steep challenge for O’Neill, who lacks an advanced science degree and any research credentials. 4/7

One source who requested anonymity speculated that O’Neill was offered the NSF job as a consolation prize to placate Thiel, an influential Trump supporter. Another Thiel protégé, Michael Kratsios, is Trump’s science advisor, giving him a voice in the selection of the NSF director. 3/7

The reported nominee, Jim O’Neill, lost two jobs last week, one as deputy secretary of HHS and the other as acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). According to media reports, NIH director Jay Bhattacharya, will also become acting CDC director. 2/7

Trump said to select Thiel protégé as NSF director President Donald Trump is planning to nominate a libertarian protégé of billionaire Peter Thiel with no research experience to be the next National Science Foundation director, according to reports today in the New York Times and elsewhere. 1/7

NSF's graduate research fellowship (GRF) program is designed to teach aspiring scientists how to write a winning grant proposal. So why are so many applicants being denied that learning experience? www.science.org/content/arti...

How hard is it for US research universities to improve their ranking? Almost impossible, says a new NSF report view.aaas.sciencepubs.org?vawpToken=OB...

We explain how shrinking the size and scope of the upcoming field tests for the 2030 census could result in a larger undercount www.science.org/content/arti...

The 2026 budgets of individual science agencies may be lean, but Mitch McConnell once again lead Congress in earmarking big bucks for homestate university research facilities www.science.org/content/arti...

The US government lost more than 10,000 STEM PhDs last year, according to an analysis by Science of newly released OPM data, with 11 departures for every hire. And many OPM calls "voluntary" separations were probably pushed. www.science.org/content/arti...

One year into Trump's second term, we parse the lasting impact of his policies and executive orders. Here's the first of a four-story package appearing this week. www.science.org/content/arti...

Why isn't Purdue talking about its new policy to halt graduate student admissions from China and other "countries of concern"? www.science.org/content/arti...

Trump's plan to slash indirect costs gets another drubbing in the courts--and in Congress www.science.org/content/arti...

Prending"minibus" would fund NSF, DOE and NASA science programs at roughly 2025 levels www.science.org/content/arti...

The National Science Foundation starts 2026 with a new management structure that affects every scientist with--or applying for--NSF funding. Here's what you need to know. www.science.org/content/arti...

As you celebrate the holidays, here are 10 things to know about the dramatic changes to how NSF does business. This story looks at merit review. The second part will explain the significance of NSF's new structure. www.science.org/content/arti...

NSF plans to streamline merit review to heal self-inflicted staffing wound www.science.org/content/arti...

A major reorganization and significant downsizing has left scientists wondering about the future of the US National Academies. www.science.org/content/arti...

And here's the GSA announcement of NSF's new digs: www.gsa.gov/about-us/new...

NSF announced today it is moving a half-mile down the street to be neighbors of the US Patent Office in Alexandria, Va. Here's our earlier story on the possibility. www.science.org/content/arti...

Republican spending plan for Census Bureau could shrink response rate on decennial census to 28% www.science.org/content/arti...

Conferees on Defense bill asked to jettison House language that would end US collaborations with Chinese scientists and former students back in China www.science.org/content/arti...

Study finds China's higher education boom led to expansion of US STEM masters programs www.science.org/content/arti...

Doing research in Antarctica was plenty hard before NSF cancelled its lease on its main ship, the Nathaniel Palmer. Read how scientists are coping. www.science.org/content/arti...

One word can make a world of difference if you're the head of an NSF directorate. Read why in this newsletter. www.science.org/content/arti...

NCAR avoids furloughs but tightens belt as bigger cuts loom www.science.org/content/arti...

California researchers take heart from nuanced ruling in suit to get grants reinstated www.science.org/content/arti...

US universities must now decide if hiring a foreign scientist is "worth" spending an extra $100K. www.science.org/content/arti...

How far can NSF bend before it breaks? Science looks at what's happened to the agency under Trump. www.science.org/content/arti...

Despite its 162-year-history of service, congressional Republicans tell federal agencies not to seek the advice of the National Academies. www.science.org/content/arti...

Having a hard time tracking how Congress might revamp indirect costs? Here's what you need to know. www.science.org/content/arti...

Last week the chairman of the House science committee tried to convince an academic audience that Musk and DOGE has helped to regain public trust in government and science. What could go wrong? www.science.org/content/arti...

Lin ordered NSF to reinstate the suspended UCLA grants by 19 August or explain why it hasn't complied with her order. The case is Thakur v. Trump.

Judge Lin rejected NSF's arguments that her earlier injunction didn't apply because the new batch of grants were only suspended. But Lin said that was a distinction without a difference and that NSF had violated the Administrative Procedures Act by failing to provide an adequate explanation.

US District Court Judge Rita Lin today ordered NSF to reinstate the 300 grants to UCLA that it suspended on 30 July, saying the agency violated a preliminary injunction she issued in June on a different set of grants to UCLA researchers. 1/2

Deconstructing Trump's latest directive on managing federal research: how bad is it? www.science.org/content/arti...

NSF's suspension of UCLA grants could run afoul of injunction against earlier terminations. www.science.org/content/arti...

Revisions to BLS job numbers are the norm, not the exception, says former commissioner Erica Groshen, who explains why Trump's criticism is misguided. www.science.org/content/arti...

GOP appropriators oppose 15% cap on indirect cost rates and tell Trump to work with research community on a better approach www.science.org/content/arti...

Nobody likes the current system for paying indirect costs. But the new proposed model being pitched to Congress and OMB also took a beating this week. www.science.org/content/arti...

It's too early to take to the bank, but the Senate may come to the rescue of researchers whose NSF grants were cancelled www.science.org/content/arti...

Can't get enough of the status of research in the FY2026 budget? Here's the latest from the House. www.science.org/content/arti...