Lawsuit challenges elimination of duration of status

A broad coalition of labor and education organizations filed a lawsuit last week challenging the Department of Homeland Security’s replacement of duration-based visas with a four-year limit. The plaintiffs represent colleges and universities as well as teachers, international students, auto and aerospace workers, and journalists.

The rule in question will take effect Sept. 15 and applies to F student visas, J exchange visitor visas, and I visas for foreign journalists. Instead of allowing these visa holders to remain in the US for the duration of their academic program or journalistic assignment, DHS will now only admit individuals for a fixed time tied to their program length, capped at four years. Those seeking to stay longer will have to apply for an extension.

The suit claims the rule change is “arbitrary and capricious.” It says DHS did not properly consider comments on the rule, as required by the Administrative Procedure Act, and instead “engaged in an exercise of close-minded justification of a preordained result.”

In response to a request for comment on the lawsuit, a DHS spokesperson declined to address the lawsuit and said news outlets were engaging in “performative outrage” over the rule change.

White House outlines research security policy

The White House released a “National Security Science and Technology Strategy” document last Tuesday that lays out its strategic technical priorities, ranging from AI to nuclear energy to semiconductor industries. The document calls for increased research and talent acquisition in those areas, which it says will be “integral” in future geopolitical competition, particularly with China and for efforts such as the administration’s Golden Dome missile defense initiative.

US science and technology leadership “is itself a national security objective,” according to the document. Notably, it updates the critical and emerging technologies list used in export controls and for prioritizing federal research, adding quantum cryptography and removing virtual reality, for example. Data centers no longer count as a priority, Tom’s Hardware noted, with private companies pursuing their massive build-out in the US.

The strategy calls for “attracting and retaining top-tier global talent in critical national security S&T fields.” However, that call comes as the administration has made moves seen as discouraging overseas talent, such as $100,000 H-1B visa fees and duration of status limits. The strategy also increases restrictions on transferring know-how to China in areas such as AI, quantum information systems, semiconductors, supercomputers, and hypersonics, while calling on allies to do likewise.

Federal job protections to weaken in early September

A series of new rules will go into effect Sept. 2 that will make it easier for federal agencies to launch reductions in force and alter how employees appeal employment decisions.

One of the rules will allow agencies to fire probationary, temporary, and trial employees without declaring a formal RIF. It also reduces the significance of tenure for determining which employees are fired first during a RIF. Duration of employment will still be considered, but as a secondary metric after performance review scores.

The other rules transfer authority over certain firing appeals from the quasi-independent Merit Systems Protection Board to the Office of Personnel Management. This change applies to employees who challenge their firing as part of a RIF or while on probation, as well as those who challenge the government’s rejection of a job application on “suitability” grounds. In an op-ed published last week, OPM Director Scott Kupor argued that the changes will bring “accountability for employees who can’t deliver and distinction for those who knock the cover off the ball.”

NSF releases NOFOs for fundamental research

The National Science Foundation has released 12 funding solicitations across 5 directorates that will provide $1.5 billion in funding for foundational research in science and engineering. Scientists have waited for calls for such grant proposals since the start of the Trump administration.

The grant opportunities will provide a mix of awards lasting up to five years for ambitious, transformative research along with short-term grants to quickly test promising ideas, the agency said in its news release. In a bid to gauge the success of varied funding approaches, NSF intends to employ different grant durations, mechanisms, and institutions in awards, the agency says.

Science reports that researchers have expressed concern over the size of the NOFO’s funding, which accounts for only a small part of NSF’s more than $8 billion research budget for fiscal year 2026. Two agency directorates, Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences and STEM Education, go unmentioned in the NOFOs, raising concerns they will go unfunded next year.

“NSF expects award activity to proceed while continuing to support critical research through its rigorous, merit-based review process,” said Cassandra Eichner of the agency’s Office of Legislative and Public Affairs, in response to a query on these concerns.

Biohazard-related research policy released by NIH

NIH released a draft biosafety policy on research involving biohazards, heightening institutional biosafety committee oversight of such experiments. The public has until Oct.19 to comment on the proposed changes to lab biosafety rules.

“Through this draft policy, NIH aims to augment public safety, transparency, and accountability in its stewardship of the biomedical research enterprise,” the agency said in its announcement. The proposed practices cover a broad swath of lab biohazards, including wild-type bacteria and viruses that cause human disease, genetically modified organisms, and lab-created nucleic acids. Any institution receiving NIH funding would need to abide by the proposed rules, regardless of an experiment’s funding source, expanding past obligations.

“NIH is trying to replace a recombinant-DNA-era rulebook with a broader, more risk-based system of institutional biosafety governance,” said David Gillum, a visiting scholar at Arizona State University, in an initial assessment. New incident reporting requirements would require public posting of researcher identities. Gigi Gronvall, a professor of environmental health and engineering at Johns Hopkins University, said that provision will likely draw pushback as it could lead researchers to avoid reporting incidents out of fear of harassment.

Also on our radar

• Tomorrow, the Trump administration plans to publish a proposal to impose a $100,000 fee on H-1B visa applications. Comments will likely be due by the end of September.
• The Trump administration has removed roughly 38 federal datasets and altered another 337 across more than 60 agencies over the last 18 months.
• OMB has reviewed around 165,000 comments on its proposed changes to the federal grantmaking process. The White House plans for the rule to take effect on Oct. 1.
• Former NIAID official David Morens pled guilty to conspiracy charges stemming from his efforts to hide communications about coronavirus-related research grants from Freedom of Information Act requests.
• The Pentagon has ordered 30 American universities to investigate their financial and research ties with foreign adversaries, specifically China, Russia, and Iran, by Aug. 31 or risk losing access to federal funding.
• A new National Academies report urges Congress to provide reliable funding for ARPA-E to drive high-risk energy innovations. The report recommends tripling the SCALEUP program’s budget to $120 million and adopting proactive hiring to preserve the agency’s agility.
• The Environmental Defense Fund filed a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s efforts to dismantle the National Center for Atmospheric Research. The suit contests the administration’s decision to “shut down all of NCAR’s climate research functions” and close its Mesa Lab.

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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, they will be faced with a looming Sept. 30 deadline to pass spending legislation.

Monday, August 24

National Academies: Assessment of technical and scientific capabilities at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, meeting 13
1:00 - 3:00 pm

CSIS: AI agent containment failures: Technical realities and policy responses
2:00 - 4:00 pm

Tuesday, August 25

NDIA: 2026 Space Warfighter Forum (continues through Thursday)

NSF: SECURE Center webinar: China’s virtual targeting strategy
11:00 am - 12:00 pm

WSBR: From demo to dollars: Why promising space companies still hit a wall on the way to a program of record
11:30 am - 1:30 pm

ITIF: Can the United States win the AI race if Americans oppose data centers?
12:00 - 1:00 pm

NSF: State and Regional Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure Hubs webinar
2:00 - 3:00 pm

Thursday, August 27

Atlantic Council: AI and autonomy on the modern battlefield
3:45 pm

Friday, August 28

No events.

Monday, August 31

SDSC: Fast Machine Learning for Science Conference (continues through Friday)

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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)
◆AACR: Director, Regulatory Science and Policy (ongoing)
DOE: Director, Office of Information Management (Aug. 26)
◆OMB: Program examiner, space (Aug. 26)
◆DOE: Program Manager, New Ship Design (Aug. 27)
◆IDA: Research analyst, science policy (Sept. 30)
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 framework
DOE: RFI on public-private partnerships in computing (Sept. 8)
◆NOAA: Solicitation of nominations for membership on the NOAA Science Advisory Board (Sept. 18)
NIH: RFI on proposed changes to reporting outcomes from NIH peer review (Oct. 13)
NIST: RFI on modernizing the National Vulnerability Database in the age of artificial intelligence (Oct. 13)
◆NIH: RFC on draft NIH Biosafety Policy for Research Involving Biohazards (Oct. 19)

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

Stat: How a Trump loyalist got the FDA nomination
Politico: Trump’s pick to lead the FDA faces uphill Senate battle
White House: Fact sheet: President Donald J. Trump launches the golden age of space transportation

Congress

AP: Dr. Anthony Fauci declines request to appear before a second Senate panel after GOP contempt vote
Politico: Republicans bristle at Trump’s latest tactics to undermine Congress’ funding power
AGU: AGU thanks Senate for action on OMB rule
Politico: Dems sharpen attack on post-midterm target: Trump’s mineral deals

Science, Society, and the Economy

FAS: Conspiracy theories are not a good reason to ban geoengineering research (perspective by Megan Husted)
Stat: She grew up unvaccinated. Now she’s a leading voice for science — and empathy
Retraction Watch: Defamation suit demanding Elsevier retract paper heads closer to trial
Washington Post: Young Americans really hate AI. These two charts show how much.

Education and Workforce

AP: The CDC has zombie programs. Congress funds them, but few people are left to do the work
Washington Post: Math may be the first academic profession to see its work taken over by AI
Chronicle of Higher Education: UNC used AI to help draft its ‘compact 2.0’ response. Is that hypocritical?
Chronicle of Higher Education: Universities were forced to pay up despite little evidence of antisemitism, Trump whistleblowers say
Politico: US demands China release ‘wrongfully detained’ American held on spying charges

Research Management

Nature: NSF set to issue lowest number of new grants in four decades
Jennifer Troyer: NIH funding: What does the Unified Funding Strategy actually change? (perspective)
Science: NIH lifts ban on funding research in South Africa
Research Policy: Science under sanctions: The impact of the entity list on Chinese academic research (report)
The Guardian: Science or fiction? Shadowy ‘paper mills’ let you pay to be a published author – of fraudulent research
Retraction Watch: Ceramics journal pulls dozens of papers flagged for integrity concerns

Labs and Facilities

Science: The lab that learns (perspective by Milad Abolhasani)
HPCwire: SUNY Poly partners with Rice on NSF autonomous laboratory initiative
Fermilab: DOE selects Fermilab-led AI initiative to advance particle accelerator performance

Computing and Communications

Inside Higher Ed: AI Helped Researchers Win NIH Grants. Will Science Suffer?
The Information: For AI companies, unanswered questions about White House model testing plan
Lawfare: An AI playground for the courts (perspective by Daniel Ho and Olivia Martin)
FedScoop: Revised GSA AI clause hasn’t fully calmed industry concerns, comments show
Science: Who checks what AI can do? (perspective by Thorsten Holz)
Nature: Staggering 90% of biomedical papers now show signs of AI help
Scholarly Kitchen: Your next reader is a machine, and we are ready (perspective by Chris Reid)
Bloomberg: Khosla Ventures bets on AI’s next frontier: Science

Space

Science: NASA abandons orbit-boosting rescue mission for space observatory
Scientific American: Orbital data centers could transform our night sky forever (perspective by Arielle Frommer)
SpaceNews: A rocket crashed into the moon. It was harmless, but the next one might not be (perspective by Therese Jones)
Bloomberg: China rocket comes home for first time, closing in on SpaceX
Scientific American: China is going back to the Moon in search of water ice
SpaceNews: Space nuclear programs face near- and long-term challenges
NASA: NASA establishes state hubs to grow technical aerospace workforce

Weather, Climate, and Environment

E&E News: USGS chief scientist reassigned by Trump administration
E&E News: Interior paid $156 million for employees not to work
E&E News: Appeals court sides with EPA on climate grant pause
The Economist: The case for modifying the clouds (perspective by Oliver Morton)
E&E News: A Supreme Court case may be slowing Trump’s next climate rollback

Energy

Power: Don’t ask states to become nuclear waste dumps. Make them partners in solving the problem (perspective by Edward McGinnis)
Fusion Industry Association: South Korea names fusion as a strategic technology for economic growth
Fusion Industry Association: New England governors to explore advanced nuclear, fusion technologies at Lowell summit
American Nuclear Society: ANS names 2027 Congressional Fellows
The Conversation: AI companies look to the ocean as a place to put more data centers (perspective by Nir Kshetri)
E&E News: Pennsylvania Gov. Shapiro signs order to limit new data centers

Defense

Lawfare: The risks of getting Russian and Chinese nuclear strategy wrong (perspective by Fiona Cunningham and Kristin Ven Bruusgaard)
Inside Defense: Golden Dome chief wields extraordinary authorities that Pentagon won’t disclose
SpaceNews: Golden Dome chief touts progress as funding questions loom
Inside Defense: Pentagon nears FAA agreement to clear high-power microwaves for domestic drone defense

Biomedical

MIT Technology Review: When AI designs a drug, who gets the credit?
Roll Call: HHS seeks input on kids vaccination changes called for by Trump
Washington Post: I helped develop the rotavirus vaccine. Trump’s overhaul makes me sick (perspectives)
Science: For investigators in NIH’s autism initiative, funding comes with a ‘big spotlight’
Stat: Physician group sues Trump administration over dietary guidelines process
Roll Call: Republicans revive false miscarriage statistic, twist Fauci’s texts about COVID-19 shots

International Affairs

Nature: South Africa’s scientists must register with official body or risk prison, according to draft law
Research Professional: Annual research shortfall remains above £6bn at UK universities
Bloomberg: UK bets on a boom in AI chip newcomers
The Information: Nvidia plots China comeback with new AI chip
E&E News: Ukraine urges EU sanctions on Rosatom over nuclear safety worries