House releases detailed DOE Office of Science proposal

The House Appropriations Committee advanced its funding bill covering the Department of Energy last week, which proposes a 1% increase for DOE’s Office of Science, contrasting with the president’s requested 15% cut. The detailed bill report released last week reveals the committee proposals for each of the office’s divisions. The report also requests various briefings, including one on expected levels of future support for the Genesis Mission and another on plans to improve management and cost estimation for major scientific projects.

• Advanced Scientific Computing Research: +5%. The House proposes $60 million for the Equinox and Lux supercomputers at Argonne and Oak Ridge National Labs. Without counting these additions, the proposal would essentially flat-fund ASCR. The $60 million proposal falls short of the president’s requested $1.2 billion for Equinox, Lux, and Solstice. The report states that the committee provides no funding for any future AI supercomputers at the national lab facilities until it “gains a better understanding on infrastructure, operations, and outyear funding implications.”
• Basic Energy Sciences: +4%. The House proposes a 56% boost for facilities operations of high-flux neutron sources and boosts for two light source projects that the president’s request proposes deferring funding for.
• Biological and Environmental Research: -6%. BER saw the deepest proposed cut, though still far shallower than the president’s proposed 54% cut. The House proposes maintaining funding for atmospheric research and facilities, for which the request proposes no funding.
• Fusion Energy Sciences: -1%. The House proposes a 1% cut to research funding and flat funding for contributions to the multinational fusion research facility ITER. Relatedly, the proposal does not include funding for the separate Office of Fusion, stating that commercialization efforts should be conducted through the Office of Technology Commercialization.
• High Energy Physics: +2%. The House proposes a 1% cut to research funding, compared to the 17% cut proposed in the president’s request. The proposal aligns with the requested increase for LBNF/DUNE and the requested cut to the Proton Improvement Plan II.
• Nuclear Physics: essentially flat. The House proposes a 6% cut to research funding, compared to the 17% cut proposed in the president’s request. It proposes boosts for low energy and medium energy physics facilities.
• Isotope R&D: flat. The House proposes a 5% increase for research funding and matches the president’s requested decrease for the U.S. Stable Isotope Production and Research Center.

The Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee advanced a funding bill last week that proposes a 4% cut to the U.S. Geological Survey. The full committee will consider the bill next Wednesday and is expected to release the detailed bill report before then.

NIST head confirmed, NSF nominee still awaits hearing

The Senate confirmed a large bloc of nominees last week by a 46-43 vote, including Arvind Raman to lead the National Institute of Standards and Technology, Matthew Anderson to serve as deputy administrator of NASA, and Kyle Haustveit to serve as a Department of Energy under secretary. Haustveit succeeds Wells Griffith, who was removed from his position in October.

Meanwhile, the American Association for the Advancement of Science is urging the Senate to hold an open hearing for President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the National Science Foundation, Jim O’Neill. “Mr. O’Neill must articulate to this Committee and to the American people his vision for American discovery science in an era of tremendous disruption,” the letter from AAAS states.

The letter describes “a wide array of issues” at NSF, including a 30% drop in staff, a 59% decrease in spending between 2025 and 2026, withholding of grants, and reduced international collaboration. It also argues that O’Neill’s “unconventional background” merits “greater scrutiny of the nomination by Congress.” O’Neill does not have an advanced science degree or experience conducting science or engineering research, unlike previous confirmed NSF directors. Prior to the nomination, O’Neill served as acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. O’Neill worked for the Department of Health and Human Services during George W. Bush’s administration and later became an investor, including for the Thiel Foundation’s Breakout Labs program, which funded early-stage commercialization of scientific research.

NASA announces reorganization, new center directors

NASA announced an agency reorganization and several leadership updates on Friday. The Science Mission Directorate remains unchanged but will now report directly to Administrator Jared Isaacman rather than to the associate administrator, as will all the directorate heads. The reorganization combines the mission directorates for exploration systems development and space operations into the Human Spaceflight Mission Directorate, and the aeronautics research mission and space technology mission directorates into the Research and Technology Mission Directorate. “There will be no reduction in force, no program cancellations, no closures, but we will achieve cost savings through more efficient execution and taking an active role in delivering the outcomes the world has been waiting for from NASA,” Isaacman states in the announcement.

Newly announced NASA center directors include Jamie Dunn for Goddard Space Flight Center, Brian Hughes for Kennedy Space Center, and Dawn Schaible for Glenn Research Center. Dunn was a project manager for the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope; he received praise from Isaacman in April for keeping the telescope on track for completion without further cost overruns, Aerospace America reported. Cynthia Simmons will remain Goddard deputy director after serving as acting director since August 2025. NASA announced Hughes as senior director of launch operations earlier this month, and he previously served as the agency’s chief of staff; Democrats on the House Science Committee have said Hughes “personally directed the agency’s illegal implementation of the White House budget last year.” Dawn Schaible was previously the Glenn deputy director.

Commerce awards CHIPS funds to quantum companies

The Commerce Department announced last week that it will provide more than $2 billion in CHIPS and Science Act funds to several quantum companies, including for quantum foundries at IBM and GlobalFoundries. IBM will receive $1 billion to establish a quantum foundry subsidiary company for quantum-grade superconducting wafers. More than $600 million will go to seven other companies to “address the most consequential, unresolved engineering problems” related to quantum, the announcement states.

Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), the ranking member on the House Science Committee, called the funding plans “illegal and troubling on so many levels.” In a statement, she said the U.S. should be investing in quantum, but that the money awarded for these deals was specifically set aside for public-private partnerships supporting microelectronics R&D, not manufacturing incentives for quantum manufacturing. “The administration is, once again, directly defying very clear direction from Congress,” she wrote. The department announced its plan to allocate CHIPS R&D funds via a single solicitation in November, after “clawing back” $7.4 billion from the National Semiconductor Technology Center. Lofgren also criticized the equity stakes that the department is taking in each company as part of the deal, saying, “That represents communism, not capitalism.”

Also on our radar

• NASA announced it will open a competition to operate the Jet Propulsion Lab. Caltech has operated the lab since its inception, and its agreement ends on Sept. 30, 2028.
• A GAO report estimated that nine agencies, including NSF and DOE, could collectively spend as much as $1 billion annually on publishing charges, more than triple what they spent in 2024. Of the agencies studied, only NIH had planned for the potential budgetary effects of shifting toward pay-to-publish models, the report states.
• NIH and NASA are imposing stricter rules on foreign co-authorship for some grantees, despite no formal guidance changing the requirements, Science reported.
• House Science Republicans raised concerns that NOAA is not fully meeting its oversight and reporting responsibilities regarding weather modification, pointing to a GAO report from February. They also expressed concerns about the risks of marine cloud brightening and other solar geoengineering technologies.
• Science academies of the G7 countries issued statements to inform discussions during the G7 summit in June regarding protecting the Arctic, coordinating international action on large satellite constellations, and prioritizing brain health.
• The UN passed a resolution stating that governments can be held liable for climate inaction, despite opposition from the U.S. and seven other countries.
• Connecticut’s state government will provide $35 million to support its state university after the Trump administration cut $95 million of its research funding in 2025.
• CERN has begun its public consultation process for the Future Circular Collider in Switzerland, and will hold public debate in France beginning in June. Both processes will end in October.

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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.

Monday, May 25

JpGU: Japan Geoscience Union Meeting 2026 (continues through Friday)

Tuesday, May 26

CSIS: Warfighting and war winning in space
1:00 - 1:45 pm

Wednesday, May 27

AEI: Has science become feminized?
10:00 - 11:20 am

Carnegie: Space, nuclear weapons, and US-Russia relations after the Cold War
10:00 - 11:00 am

American Academy of Arts & Sciences: How are AI and science shaping discovery?

4:00 pm

AIP: Mme Curie’s lab: Radioactivity and place for women in science
5:45 pm - 7:30 pm

Thursday, May 28

AEI: A new academic social contract
9:00 am - 8:00 pm

Science|Business: Research security: Balancing policy with practice
9:00 - 10:00 am

FDD: The electrotech stack at risk: China, AI, and America’s energy supply chains
12:00 pm - 1:15 pm

Friday, May 29

Atlantic Council: A framework for US-Japan cooperation in the Arctic
8:00 am

Sunday, May 31

American Nuclear Society: Annual conference (continues through Wednesday)

NTI: A nuclear renaissance on TV
11:45 am CT

Monday, June 1

NSF: Astronomy and Astrophysics Advisory Committee meeting
9:00 am - 5:00 pm

Atlantic Council: How the US and allies can win the AI era

2:30 pm

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

Job Openings

New York University: Associate director, research data management and security (ongoing)
FAS: Senior manager, climate tech and innovation (ongoing)
APLU: Assistant vice president for governmental affairs (ongoing)
AIP: Director of science policy news (ongoing)
◆DOE: Director, Scientific User Facilities Division (June 2)
Navy: Associate director of research for systems, Office of Naval Research (June 3)
ANS: Congressional science and engineering fellowship (June 5)

Solicitations

NSF: Research security mentorship program interest form (ongoing)
NIH: RFC on NIH-wide strategic plan for fiscal years 2027-2031 (May 26)
NRC: RFC on regulation of byproduct material associated with fusion machines (May 27)
NSF: RFI to inform review of PAEMST and PAESMEM programs (May 28)
◆APS: Excellence in Physics Education Award (June 1)
NRC: RFC on licensing requirements for microreactors (June 15)
◆APS: Joseph A. Burton Forum Award nominations (June 15)
◆USGS: Call for nominations for the Scientific Earthquake Studies Advisory Committee (June 18)
◆APS: Dwight Nicholson Medal for Outreach nominations (June 26)
AAS: Nominations for 2027 AAS prizes (June 30)
NASA: RFC on information collection, addressing DEI discrimination by federal contractors (July 6)

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

The Conversation: Self-censorship, more stress, tougher recruiting – we asked US researchers how the Trump administration’s science policies have affected them (perspective by Eric Welch and Timothy Johnson)
NPR: Researchers say the Trump administration is finding new ways to punish science
New York Times: Scientists tweaked the global warming outlook. So Trump weighed in.
MIT Technology Review: Tech researchers are suing the Trump administration over the future of online safety
The Information: White House briefs AI companies on plan to review models before release
Washington Post: Trump delays executive order on AI oversight hours before planned signing
White House: Technology prosperity deal between the United States and Sweden

Congress

American Astronomical Society: House FY27 CJS report: NASA and NSF details
FedScoop: House bill would enlist OPM in federal biotech workforce assessment
Senate Appropriations: A review of the president’s fiscal year 2027 budget request for the National Institutes of Health
American Nuclear Society: Senate EPW subcommittee weighs in on three nuclear energy bills
E&E News: 4 takeaways from House Interior-EPA spending bill
Research Professional: Democrats ‘appalled’ at pick to lead Kennedy Space Center
STAT: 3 burning questions senators had for the NIH director

Science, Society, and the Economy

Nature: Support academic institutions under attack (perspective by Roozbeh Kiani et al.)
Issues in Science and Technology: If you want to go far, go together (perspective by Omar Escontrías)
Brookings: With new funding, NSF’s Regional Innovation Engines are attempting to expand emerging clusters
Quanta Magazine: Two researchers are rebuilding mathematics from the ground up
CSIS: What did the Trump-Xi summit achieve? (video)
Scholarly Kitchen: Why scholarly societies must compete through stewardship, not scale (perspective by Ashutosh Ghildiyal and Holly Koppel)
Nature: Nearly half of the world’s Nature Index chemistry research is now done in China

Education and Workforce

Bloomberg: College kids don’t want your AI
NPR: The Education Department is hiring
Retraction Watch: Feud between physicists ends in defamation verdict

Research Management

Nature: Why AI cannot do good science without humans (editorial)
Nature: AI ‘scientists’ promise to accelerate research — how do they work?
Nature: Teams of AI agents boost speed of research
Nature: Accelerating scientific discovery with Co-Scientist (journal article by Juraj Gottweis et al.)
Nature: A multi-agent system for automating scientific discovery (journal article by Ali Essam Ghareeb et al.)
Inside Higher Ed: Ban on authors who submit AI content “welcome but unenforceable”
Retraction Watch: How the media hypes “research that is absurd on its face”
Nature: Tough peer-review process? Your paper might end up being more highly cited
Nature: A conference taught me that scientists and journalists must work together to protect research (perspective by Lonni Besançon)
Nature: Researchers who use hallucinated references to face arXiv ban
Inside Higher Ed: IU biologist’s lab reopened but research is set back

Labs and Facilities

Brookhaven: John Hill named director of Brookhaven National Laboratory
Idaho National Lab: Idaho National Laboratory opens Structural Properties Laboratory for advanced nuclear research
Research Professional: CERN seeks public’s views on potential next mega facility
Lawrence Livermore National Lab: Big Ideas Lab explores how the Genesis Mission aims to accelerate scientific discovery
Lawrence Livermore National Lab: LLNL showcases AI-enabled science, national security and energy innovation at AI+ Expo
HPCwire: Sandia lab gives approval to Spectra supercomputer
Berkeley Lab: New MatterChat model helps AI to ‘see’ the language of science
Science|Business: Université de Montréal: Canadian astronomy looks to Europe and invests in the world’s largest telescope
Idaho National Lab: Experimental Breeder Reactor-I Atomic Museum opens for 2026 season; 75th anniversary approaches
GAO: Hanford cleanup: DOE’s plans to grout and dispose of millions of gallons of tank waste (report)
Los Alamos National Lab: Protections in place for Mexican spotted owl at Los Alamos National Lab
MIT: The Haystack 37m Telescope: A new era of astrophysical research

Computing and Communications

Breaking Defense: ‘Have to be very careful’: Special ops head calls for combat AI ‘reality check’
DOD News: War Department’s science enterprise maintains tight focus on half-dozen key areas
Export Compliance Daily: US nominee says she would work with Korea to restrict advanced tech to China
HPCwire: BSC hosts US-Spain initiative for next-gen research collaboration
HPCwire: Google Advances AI for Science with New Tools and Tech
Scientific American: Quantum computing is reaching its make-or-break moment
Scientific American: Which problems will quantum computers solve—and when?
The Information: Is the gap widening between Anthropic and open-source models?

Space

Ars Technica: “I’ll buy 10 of those"—NASA science chief yearns for mass-produced satellites
Breaking Defense: DARPA’s robotic servicing spacecraft to finally fly this summer
CSIS: A new generation looks to the moon: Perspectives on Artemis
CSIS: Can space be disrupted like the Strait of Hormuz? (perspective by Clayton Swope)
FedScoop: From space photography to mission readiness, NASA turns to AI to alleviate data influx
NASA: NASA’s new shock detectives project invites volunteers to help study solar wind
NASA Watch: Josef Aschbacher is charting an independent course for ESA
NASA Watch: The disassembly of the NASA advisory council
Scientific American: NASA dreams of a nuclear power plant on the Moon. Here’s why
SpaceNews: ESA-China SMILE mission lifts off to deliver first global images of Earth’s magnetosphere
SpaceNews: Isaacman expects Chinese crewed mission around the moon in 2027
SpaceNews: Report finds US space supply chains rely heavily on Chinese manufacturing
SpaceNews: US ‘more prepared’ for next WRC
Space Review: The Isaacman honeymoon

Weather, Climate, and Environment

The Conversation: Hurricane forecasts have improved dramatically, saving lives, but federal cuts threaten to stretch NOAA to the breaking point (perspective by Brian Tang)
Scientific American: The world is less prepared for a pandemic than before COVID. Here’s why
Science News: The outlook for a climate-regulating ocean current is…not good
New York Times: Trump to ease restrictions on climate ‘super pollutants’
MIT Technology Review: Climate tech companies are pivoting to critical minerals
E&E News: Youth seek to block EPA repeal of climate endangerment finding
Politico: Tom Steyer walks back support for data center moratorium
Carbon Brief: Factcheck: Trump’s false claims about the IPCC and ‘RCP8.5’ climate scenario

Energy

American Nuclear Society: NEA head gives talk about growing global interest in nuclear energy
American Nuclear Society: Nuclear EOs: One year later
American Nuclear Society: Pathways to Trade Summit focuses on nuclear workforce capability
Breaking Defense: Congressional funding concerns about a new nuclear cruise missile
Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists: ‘Not the most cheerful thing I’ve ever done.’ Susan Solomon on the National Academies report on the effects of nuclear war
DOE: Interagency cooperation transforms legacy waste into strategic medical radioisotope supply
Federal Register: Update on reimbursement for costs of remedial action at uranium and thorium processing sites
GAO: Nuclear waste cleanup: DOE shortages in mission-critical positions have continued to increase (report)
ITIF: Advanced geothermal energy is widely available, clean, and maybe cheap enough to make a big impact
Scientific American: Helion Energy is building a fusion power plant. Can its technology deliver?

Defense

SpaceNews: Inside Golden Dome’s push to court commercial tech firms and investors
Inside Defense: Pentagon’s ‘FutureG’ director heralds spending to enable autonomous weapons
Breaking Defense: NORTHCOM standing up ‘Nordic Bridge’ to boost US coordination in Arctic
Inside Defense: ‘Geeks with guns': SOCOM commander says more collaboration needed between operators, engineers
New York Times: White House approves $9 billion for spy agencies to catch up on AI

Biomedical

Research Professional: Navigating NIH funding under Trump
Nature: Scientists race to develop Ebola drugs as outbreak surges
The Guardian: Infectious diseases such as hantavirus and Ebola becoming more frequent and damaging, say experts
Stat: How to restore credibility to the CDC’s vaccine advisory committee (perspective by Jesse Goodman)
Stat: There’s a leadership vacuum at NIH, too
Politico: What Ebola and hantavirus are revealing about America’s public health system
Wired: ‘Perfect storm’: How Trump’s aid cuts are fueling the Ebola outbreak
Wired: A Danish couple’s maverick African research finds its moment in RFK Jr.’s vaccine policy

International Affairs

South China Morning Post: US’ scientific self-harm will only help China (perspective by Alex Lo)
CSIS: Unpacking President Trump’s visit to China (audio)
Science|Business: Funding Radar: Japan calls for international research on AI in science
Research Professional: Shared tech transfer offices show spinout success in England
Physics World: Nottingham physics redundancies ‘an act of academic sabotage’, warn scientists
Research Professional: Aria steps up AI for science push with new top-level role
Nature: France’s research-primate project goes against its own ethics panel
Research Professional: Research heavyweights urge EU to shore up academic freedom
Science|Business: Rumored overhaul of Commission research directorate gets mixed response
E&E News: Lawyers urge New Zealand to ditch plan to ban climate lawsuits