Arctic Report Card seeks new home after NOAA pulls support

The scientists behind the Arctic Report Card are seeking a new sponsor to publish the annual climate assessment after the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced it would no longer contribute toward the production, publication, and promotion of the report.

Work on this year’s report is already well underway. Twila Moon, a lead Arctic Report Card editor and deputy lead scientist at the National Snow and Ice Data Center at the University of Colorado Boulder, told FYI that all 2026 topics were finalized in early summer and authors are already working on their contributions.

“We are moving quickly to determine alternative pathways to publish the report and ensure that the information and insights make it to decision makers, educators, community leaders, and the public,” Moon said.

NOAA informed the editors at a regularly scheduled meeting last week that “coordination of the 2026 Arctic Report Card will not be facilitated through NOAA.” The agency said that the data it has historically contributed to the report will continue to be collected and will remain publicly available. NOAA did not explain the rationale behind its decision.

The agency gave Moon and her colleagues no advance warning of the decision, though cuts to other federal climate science activities had made such a move conceivable. NOAA declined to issue a press release for last year’s report, Moon said, but the report was published as usual, and a press conference at the American Geophysical Union’s December meeting went ahead as scheduled. Last year was the 20th anniversary of the Arctic Report Card.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) said she understands the 2026 report may continue under another sponsor but called NOAA’s withdrawal part of “a troubling federal trend” of undercutting Arctic research. “We need to invest more in the region, not less,” she said. House Science Committee ranking member Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) also condemned the decision and urged continued support for the assessment.

Moon said the report’s editors remain committed to preserving the Arctic Report Card beyond this year, though finding a long-term home will be a larger challenge. “We are motivated to continue the ARC as a timely, trusted resource on Arctic observations,” Moon said. “Continuing the ARC past 2026 is a larger puzzle than tackling 2026, but I hope we find a pathway forward to do that.”

DOJ finds NSF programs unconstitutional

The National Science Foundation can no longer operate three of its STEM education grant programs because they are unconstitutional, new guidance from the Department of Justice states.

The three programs — the Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation, the Improving Undergraduate STEM Education program for Hispanic-serving institutions, and the Alliances for Graduate Education and the Professoriate program — aim to increase racial and ethnic diversity in STEM. Together, they account for about $104 million of the $938 million Congress appropriated to NSF for STEM education for fiscal year 2026. DOJ noted that NSF may shift these funds to “lawful” activities within STEM education.

NSF asked the DOJ to review nine STEM education programs in May. DOJ found four of these programs, including the Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP), to be constitutional. The department found two other programs unconstitutional, but said NSF could continue the programs if it removes specified race- and sex-based provisions.

For example, the ADVANCE program aims to increase women’s participation in higher STEM education; the program could fund team-based science challenges open to all genders, but not a women-only Girls Who Code event, the DOJ said.

NSF declined to comment on the decision or how it plans to move forward with the affected programs.

Mistrust meets admin’s latest call for higher-ed reforms

Higher education and free speech organizations have responded to a recent “call-to-action” from Education Secretary Linda McMahon with skepticism and slivers of optimism. McMahon’s letter calls on postsecondary institutions to publicly detail their commitments to administration priorities, including broad concepts like free speech and affordability, by the end of the year.

Many groups said they view the letter as a softer, but nonetheless ill-intentioned, follow-up to last year’s Compact for Academic Excellence.

The Alliance for Higher Education and PEN America called the letter “a document designed to divide and weaken higher education.” The American Council of Learned Societies said the letter makes “compelling points about affordability, clear admissions policies, and the value of robust debate on campus,” but that “trusting that these are good-faith expressions is difficult, given this administration’s open contempt for America’s world-renowned system of higher education.” The American Association of University Professors noted that the letter is “rhetorically softer” than last year’s compact, but warned that it could still be the start of a “compliance regime” that universities should oppose.

The American Council on Education emphasized that responses to the letter are optional and suggested the White House may be pivoting its strategy following last year’s “unsuccessful” compact.

The American Association of Community Colleges and the American Association of State Colleges and Universities issued a joint point-by-point breakdown of the priorities detailed in McMahon’s letter and the ways in which their member institutions already work to meet them. That statement adds that the associations “are eager to ensure that reforms designed for one kind of institution do not impose unintentional burdens on others.”

Also on our radar

• Students on visas will no longer be eligible for a prestigious NIH award that funds two years of postdoctoral studies and three years as an independent lab head, according to Stat. NIH did not confirm the planned change in a statement to FYI.
• NIH is declining or sending back grant applications that primarily serve to inform policymakers, Nature reported.
• The House has taken up a Senate-passed bill that would block imports of uranium from Russia, among other sanctions. Medical isotopes may be excepted.
• An appeals court affirmed that agencies cannot conduct mass freezes of previously issued grants, upholding a preliminary injunction from April 2025.
• A judge dismissed the Trump administration’s antisemitism lawsuit against Harvard University, saying the incidents in the suit were “too isolated and episodic” to prove an ongoing civil rights violation.
• NIH is proposing to hide the actual scores of peer-reviewed grant proposal evaluations, instead sharing whether the proposal was “most competitive,” “competitive,” or “not discussed.”
• DOE updated its directive on scientific integrity to protect “alternative” and “dissenting” scientific opinions and to integrate “gold standard science.”

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Duration of status rule changes webinar

Last week, AIP hosted a panel discussion examining how the Department of Homeland Security’s decision to replace “duration of status” with fixed periods of admission for certain visas will affect international students and the US scientific research enterprise. Click here to watch a recording of the event.

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All events are Eastern Time unless otherwise noted. Listings do not imply endorsement. Events beyond this week are listed on our website.

Congress is currently on recess, with no congressional hearings scheduled this week. The House is scheduled to return Aug. 31, while the Senate will return Sept. 14. Upon their return, lawmakers will face a looming Sept. 30 deadline to pass spending legislation.

Monday, August 17

National Academies: Assessment of technical and scientific capabilities at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, meeting 11
1:00 - 3:00 pm

Tuesday, August 18

NDIA: MODSIM World 2026 (continues Wednesday)

NIST: 2026 NIST-NSF disaster resilience research symposium (continues Wednesday)

Wednesday, August 19

No events.

Thursday, August 20

USRA: Texas Area Planetary Sciences Meeting (continues Friday)

ITIF: Can the United States retain its scientific talent?
3:00 - 4:00 pm

Friday, August 21

No events.

Monday, August 24

ANS: NECX 2026 (continues through Thursday)

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Deadlines indicated in parentheses. Newly added opportunities are marked with a diamond.

Job Openings

National Academies: Assistant to the president (ongoing)
APS: Head of scientific programs (ongoing)
AIP: Director of social science research (ongoing)
ACS: Congressional fellowship (ongoing)
OMB: Branch chief, Defense, International Affairs, and General Government (Aug. 18)
DOD: Deputy assistant secretary of war, Strategic, Space, and Intelligence Portfolio Management (Aug. 19)
OMB: Attorney advisor (Aug. 20)
AAAS: Scientific outreach support specialist, full-time and part-time (Aug. 22)
AIP: Science policy fellowship, State Department (Oct. 1)
AAAS: Pathways to Policy Fellowship (Nov. 1)
AIP: Science policy fellowship, Congress (Dec. 1)

Solicitations

Physics Today: Reader information survey (ongoing)
APS: Call for ideas for the NSF Forward initiative (ongoing)
ACS: Call for ACS members to address global grand challenges in chemistry (ongoing)
FAS: Public Impact S&T Initiative open call (ongoing)
NIST: Request for letters of interest for the Neutron-Based Materials Characterization Consortium (ongoing)
NIST: Request for nominations for members to serve on NIST federal advisory committees (ongoing)
FAR Council: RFI on “Revolutionary Federal Acquisition Regulation Overhaul Parts 1, 2, 4, 33, 40, and 53” (Aug. 24)
NSF: RFC on NSF Guidance on Financial Assistance (Aug. 24)
National Academies: RFI on Earth Science and Applications from Space 2028-2037 decadal survey (Aug. 24)
NRC: RFC on Reforming and Modernizing the NRC’s Radiation Protection
DOE: RFI on public-private partnerships in computing (Sept. 8)
◆NIH: RFI on proposed changes to reporting outcomes from NIH peer review
◆NIST: Request for Information (RFI) on Modernizing the National Vulnerability Database in the Age of Artificial Intelligence (Oct. 13)

Know of an opportunity for scientists to engage in science policy? Email us at fyi@aip.org.

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Do you have a story to tell about how science policy is impacting you?

AIP’s research team is gathering first-hand accounts from scientists, engineers, students, and staff whose careers have been affected by policy and funding changes over the past year. Volunteers can submit their stories via this online form. Participants’ stories will be added to the Niels Bohr Library & Archives digital repository as searchable, citable records — with options for anonymity and a five-year embargo period. Read more about the initiative here.

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News and views currently in circulation. Links do not imply endorsement.

White House

Wired: The White House is going to expand its AI policy
White House: President Donald J. Trump delivers gold standard childhood vaccine recommendations for Americans
E&E News: Appeals court blocks Trump’s mass freeze on Biden-era grants
Chemical & Engineering News: US to impose floor prices and tariffs for polysilicon and derivatives
White House: President Donald J. Trump bolsters national security and strengthens US supply chains by imposing tariffs on drones and their parts and components

Congress

Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA): Murray joins Senate colleagues in demanding State Department process student visas without delays
House CCP Committee: Select committee investigation: Exposing CCP influence at Harvard University
E&E News: Dems push GAO to investigate Trump mineral deals
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA): Warren, Rep. Donald Norcross (D-NJ) press Hegseth on reckless cuts to weapons testing office after watchdog finds cuts increased safety risks for troops

Science, Society, and the Economy

The Economist: Maybe scientific progress isn’t slowing, after all
Bloomberg: Chinese talent plans brought to light with science agency probe of professor
Wired: Elon Musk, Sam Altman, and the misreading of science fiction
Nature: Why scientists should lead the shift away from AI mega data centres (perspective by Cassidy Buhler et al.)
Science: A democracy tax in support of science (editorial)
Physics World: Motivation is key to the public’s trust in science, study reveals

Education and Workforce

New York Times: As China hunts for scientific talent, the US makes it easier
Chronicle of Higher Education: Linda McMahon wants higher ed to reform itself. Here’s how to respond. (perspective by Danielle Allen)
Inside Higher Ed: McMahon’s trick questions (perspective by Richard Amesbury)
Inside Higher Ed: Researcher accused of espionage files second lawsuit against university

Research Management

MIT Technology Review: AI professors are negotiating the new realities of academic research
Science: Hundreds of paper-mill papers peddled in ads were later published
MIT Technology Review: How ideas of a vast censorship network moved from the online fringe to Trump policy

Labs and Facilities

Lawrence Livermore National Lab: A decade of discovery: the NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory begins survey of the sky
SpaceNews: National lab visit boosts NASA’s confidence in space nuclear propulsion mission
HPCwire: MHPCC unveils Makau supercomputer for space force research
American Nuclear Society: DOE funds ORNL and Kyoto Fusioneering test facility
Fermilab: Scientists travel to Fermilab to discuss future of high-energy physics
HPCwire: SRNL awarded AI-powered cleanup projects through DOE’s Genesis Mission

Computing and Communications

HPCwire: DOE seeks contributors for Genesis Mission open-weight AI models for science
FedScoop: Energy Department wants to create science-specific AI models
Nature: AI isn’t ready to research itself
Scientific American: No, AI didn’t just solve the thorniest problem in math
Washington Post: Mark Zuckerberg’s latest manifesto promises to save America with AI
HPCwire: Utah gov. Cox signs executive order establishing quantum initiative

Energy

American Nuclear Society: NRC holds public meeting for proposed rule eliminating ALARA
Fusion Industry Association: FIA urges DOE to match its fusion ambition with strong FY28 federal budget
DOE Office of Science: Energy Department announces $7M for quantum technology outposts in fundamental physics

Defense

SpaceNews: Golden Dome money starting to reach contractors, but long-term funding still unclear
Breaking Defense: Space-based interceptor contractors passed first Golden Dome milestone
DefenseScoop: DARPA looking to develop ‘foundation’ of next-generation hypersonic missile work
SpaceNews: Space Command identifies capabilities it needs for the next space war
Breaking Defense: Laser weapons for space? US officials see threat, opportunity
Breaking Defense: Feinberg requested defense industry board members for briefing

Biomedical

Lawfare: A Senate committee voted to hold Fauci in contempt. Now what?
Intelligencer: Jeanine Pirro’s big decision: Indict Fauci or anger Trump
JAMA Network: What to know about the mRNA flu vaccine, newly approved by the FDA
Former NIH Program Staffer: NIH directors decide, except when HHS says no

Stat: Trump says his executive order should restore trust in vaccines. It does the exact opposite (perspective by Katrine Wallace)
Nature: Trump wants MMR vaccine split up: the science behind why it’s a bad idea
Stat: WHO says Trump’s latest vaccine policy order is misguided
CIDRAP: New CDC director faces first major test before she even begins work
Scientific American: Major COVID study that fueled vaccine skepticism retracted over ‘misinformation’
Drug Discovery and Development: HHS seeks nominees for vaccine panel after two years without meeting

International Affairs

Nature: Why China should reassess how it rewards young scientists (perspective by Ming Lee)
CSIS: Blurred orbits: Inside China’s commercial space expansion
Brookings: A summer of AI summits reveals a widening US-China divide
Research Professional: EU-China research cooperation limited to ‘targeted areas’
Research Professional: EU government R&D spending just outpacing GDP growth
Science: Arson attack jolts Italy’s bid to host the Einstein Telescope