Trump seeks massive cuts to science

President Donald Trump’s budget request for fiscal year 2026 proposes double-digit percentage cuts across science agencies, drawing outcry from research organizations and former agency leaders. The budget would cut the National Science Foundation by 56% to $3.9 billion, NASA’s science arm by 46% to $3.9 billion, and the National Institutes of Health by 37% to about $30 billion. The Department of Energy Office of Science fared better relative to other science agencies but still faces a 14% cut to $7.1 billion.

At NSF, the cuts would target grants associated with NSF’s efforts to broaden participation in the sciences as well as “climate; clean energy; woke social, behavioral, and economic sciences; and programs in low priority areas of science.” Meanwhile, the request states that funding for AI and quantum information science programs would be maintained at current levels. Such programs would also be prioritized at DOE, in addition to fusion and critical minerals work. At NASA, the budget targets Earth science programs and proposes terminating the Mars Sample Return mission.

While the White House budget is a way for the administration to express its funding priorities, Congress will develop its own spending proposals over the coming months. Some senior Republicans in the Senate have already expressed concern about Trump’s proposed cuts. Administration figures will now begin testifying on the budget proposals, with Energy Secretary Chris Wright facing House appropriators on Wednesday. Agencies will also begin to release more details in budget justification documents. Program-level figures will be added to FYI’s Federal Science Budget Tracker as they become available.

NSF governing board to meet amid funding chaos

The National Science Board will meet on Wednesday following major shifts at the National Science Foundation, including the 15% cap on indirect cost rates for colleges and universities that NSF announced Friday. The National Institutes of Health and the Department of Energy moved to apply the same cap in February and April, respectively, but have since been blocked in court. NSF’s announcement states that the policy supports “reducing administrative burdens for awardee institutions” and “allows NSF and its awardees to focus more on scientific progress.” The cap applies only to new awards made on or after May 5. Meanwhile, NSF canceled 344 more grants last week in its third consecutive round of Friday terminations, an NSF spokesperson confirmed. NSF declined to comment on reporting from Nature that the agency has paused all funding for both new and existing grants.

The NSB meeting will begin with a closed session to discuss recommendations for a new NSF director following the resignation of Sethuraman Panchanathan in April. The board will also review budget scenarios in light of the president’s budget request, which cuts NSF’s topline funding for fiscal year 2026 by 56%. Afterward, in an open session, the board will discuss a new initiative to seek outside partners to support NSF graduate fellows and hear a presentation on security implications of China’s increasing competitiveness in science and technology. Vice Chair Victor McCrary is serving as acting chair following former Chair Darío Gil’s nomination to be under secretary for science at the Department of Energy.

Scientific societies to assemble climate research following NCA upheaval

After the Trump administration’s dismissal last week of authors working on the latest National Climate Assessment, the American Geophysical Union and American Meteorological Society plan to solicit submissions for a special collection of recent research on climate change in the U.S. The administration said the scope of the report is currently being reevaluated and cut a contract earlier in April that provides most of the staff that oversee the report. About 400 volunteer experts had already been working on the latest version of the report for almost a year and expected to publish it in late 2027. AGU and AMS noted that the report is congressionally mandated and that their collection of manuscripts “does not replace the NCA but instead creates a mechanism for this important work to continue.” They added that their new collection currently includes over 29 peer-reviewed journals on climate and invited other scholarly publishing organizations to join their effort. (AMS is an AIP Member Society.)

NIH ending subawards for international collaboration

The National Institutes of Health announced last week that it will not renew or issue “subawards” for U.S. researchers to work with international collaborators. The agency is working on a new award structure for foreign researchers, to be implemented by the end of September. The change will likely force foreign researchers to submit their own grant applications, putting funding for ongoing clinical trials and NIH-funded research abroad in jeopardy, Nature reported. NIH’s notice states it will terminate projects that are “no longer viable without the foreign subaward” while “taking into consideration any need to support patient safety and/or animal welfare.” The notice cites concerns that some NIH grant recipients do not accurately report on subawards, which is “particularly concerning in the case of foreign subawards, in which the United States government has a need to maintain national security.”

Also on our radar

• NIH is accelerating implementation of a policy requiring that research articles be accessible to the public for free at the time of publication, replacing a 2008 policy that allowed for a 12-month embargo period. The policy will now take effect on July 1, six months ahead of schedule.
• The European Union has pledged to spend €500 million over three years to attract researchers to Europe.
• The House Science Committee will hold a hearing Wednesday on ideas for updating the National Quantum Initiative.
• The Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee will hold a hearing Wednesday on AI supply chain barriers and American innovation. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is among the witnesses
• The nominations of Jared Isaacman to be NASA administrator and Darío Gil to be DOE under secretary for science advanced to the Senate floor last week on committee votes of 19 to 9 and 15 to 5, respectively.

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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 5

US Fusion Energy: Fusion Energy Week (continues through Friday)

National Academies: Extreme weather and lessons for more resilient communities: Board on Atmospheric Sciences and Climate spring meeting (continues Tuesday)

National Academies: Roundtable on AI and climate change, executive meeting two (continues Tuesday)

NTI: Strengthening Article IV: Nuclear facility resilience in times of crisis
1:00 - 2:00 pm

Tuesday, May 6

Nuclear Regulatory Commission: Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards meeting (continues through Friday)

Science|Business: US and the politics of science: The future of transatlantic cooperation?
9:00 - 10:00 am

Brookings: The AI generation: Balancing technology and socialization in education
11:00 am - 12:00 pm

National Academies: A vision for the Manufacturing USA program in 2030 and 2035
12:00 - 1:30 pm

National Academies: Foundation models for scientific discovery and innovation: Opportunities across the Department of Energy, meeting nine
1:00 - 3:00 pm

House: Science, technology, and innovation posture
3:30 pm, Armed Services Committee

NSF: National Science Board Awards and Facilities teleconference
4:00 - 5:00 pm

Wednesday, May 7

National Academies: Committee on Key Non-Polar Destinations Across the Moon to Address Decadal-level Science Objectives with Human Explorers, meeting one (continues through Friday)

House: Department of Energy budget request hearing
10:00 am, Appropriations Committee

House: From policy to progress: How the National Quantum Initiative shapes US quantum technology leadership
10:00 am, Science Committee

House: Protecting our edge: Trade secrets and the global AI arms race
10:00 am, Judiciary Committee

Lunar and Planetary Institute: Lunar surface science workshop: Artemis community forum
11:00 am - 5:00 pm

NSF: National Science Board meeting
12:10 - 5:00 pm

House: Nuclear forces and atomic energy defense activities programmatic updates
3:00 pm, Armed Services Committee

Thursday, May 8

House: Information technology and AI posture of the Department of Defense
9:00 am, Armed Services Committee

Senate: Hearing to consider nominees to lead DOE fossil energy and electricity offices
9:30 am, Energy and Natural Resources Committee

Senate: Meeting to advance the nomination of Paul Dabbar to be deputy secretary of commerce
9:45 am, Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee

Senate: Winning the AI race, focusing on strengthening United States capabilities in computing and innovation
10:00 am, Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee

Brookings: Antarctic global diplomacy — preview of the annual Antarctic Treaty Meeting
10:00 - 11:00 am

Asian American Scholar Forum: Know your rights webinar: Criminal law, research security & higher education
11:00 am

Brookings: Supporting and expanding the K-12 STEM teacher pipeline
2:00 - 3:00 pm

Friday, May 9

No events.

Monday, May 12

National Academies: Committee on Education for Thriving in a Changing Climate, meeting one (continues Tuesday)

House: Letting off steam: Unleashing geothermal energy development on federal land
4:00 pm, Natural Resources Committee

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

On April 15, the Trump administration extended the federal hiring freeze into the summer.

Job Openings

◆Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory: Associate deputy director for science and technology (ongoing)
◆Federation of American Scientists: AI and emerging tech manager (ongoing)
National Electrical Manufacturers Association: Director of government relations (ongoing)
Sancorp: Program manager, DOD Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Science and Technology (ongoing)
AIP: Associate director of public policy research and analysis (ongoing)
Institute for Progress: Metascience fellow (May 11)
◆AAAS: Editorial research intern (May 15)
NASA: Space technology investments internship (May 16)
◆White House: OSTP assistant director (May 23)
◆White House: OSTP policy advisor (May 23)
◆United Nations: Office of Outer Space Affairs government relations officer (June 5)

Solicitations

AAAS: Assessing the impacts of federal policies on the US STEMM community (ongoing)
APS: Survey collecting stories about the positive impact of federally funded research (ongoing)
DOE: RFI on AI infrastructure on DOE lands (May 7)
BIS: RFC on national security impacts of semiconductors and semiconductor manufacturing equipment imports (May 7)
NSF: RFC on grantee reporting requirements for science and technology centers (May 11)
OMB: RFI on deregulation (May 12)
BIS: RFC on national security investigation of imports of processed critical minerals and derivative products (May 16)
DHS: RFC on training plan for STEM OPT students (May 19)
◆NSF: RFI on national artificial intelligence research plan (May 29)
NSB: Call for nominations to the National Science Board (May 30)
◆NSF: RFC on NSF Education and Training Application (June 1)
◆NSF: RFC on evaluation of the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program (June 1)
◆EPA: Call for nominations to the Science Advisory Board (June 2)

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

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

White House

Science: The 100 days that shook US science
Nature: Will US science survive Trump 2.0?
NPR: DOGE employees gain accounts on classified networks holding nuclear secrets

Congress

Stat: Collins and fellow GOP senators speak out in opposition to Trump’s cuts to biomedical research
E&E News: 13 former NSF leaders to Congress: Reject Trump’s budget cuts
American Astronomical Society: AAS sends letter to Congress in support of NASA science
Inside Higher Ed: Senate committee postpones vote on Antisemitism Awareness Act

Science, Society, and the Economy

Science: Trump’s team, often accused of spreading misinformation, slashes misinformation research
Issues in Science and Technology: Supplying state legislatures with scientific expertise (perspective by Adam Jones)
Chemical & Engineering News: How to read science news (editorial)
Science: And the winner of this year’s ‘Dance Your PhD’ contest is …

Education and Workforce

Inside Higher Ed: ICE expands student deportation powers
E&E News: Trump buyouts drive brain drain at federal agencies
Nature: Trump team’s science cuts threaten tenure hopes for early-career academics
NPR: As a diversity grant dies, young scientists fear it will haunt their careers
American Geophysical Union: AGU files new lawsuit to protect hundreds of thousands of federal workers
Foreign Affairs: An attack on America’s universities is an attack on American power (perspective by Sarah Kreps)
Chronicle of Higher Education: Harvard reports on antisemitism and Islamophobia offer stark findings, divergent solutions
Nature: How we call out the infuriating mistakes we spot in school science textbooks (perspective by Elodie Pourret and Olivier Pourret)

Research Management

Chronicle of Higher Education: These NIH grants were terminated. Now they’re back
ASBMB: Amicus brief filed in support of suit calling for immediate funding restoration
Stat: Why NIH’s policy on grants to universities with DEI programs is not cause for widespread alarm (perspective by Michael Yassa)
HPCwire: Argonne examines opportunities and risks of generative AI tools
Berkeley Lab: Harnessing artificial intelligence for high-impact science
Nature: The use of AI in peer review could undermine science (perspective by Md Doulotuzzaman Xames)
New York Times: Citing NIH cuts, a top science journal stops accepting submissions
Nature: How to protect research data (perspective by Esme Hedley)
Scholarly Kitchen: How libraries and scholarly publishers can work together toward born-accessible publishing (perspective by Katherine Klosek et al.)
Scholarly Kitchen: Trump v. research: How we could turn the threats into opportunities (perspective by Alice Meadows and Suze Kundu)
Lawrence Livermore National Lab: Nuclear chemistry research gets an efficiency boost

Labs and Facilities

Research Professional: European Commission seeks views on research and tech infrastructures
HPCwire: PNNL’s Wendy Shaw named associate lab director, physical and computational sciences
Lawrence Livermore National Lab: Visionary LLNL director and national security pioneer Johnny Foster dies at 102
American Nuclear Society: Idaho agrees to INL spent fuel waiver
US Antarctic Program: Preparations underway for a new barge pier at NSF McMurdo station
Inside Climate News: USGS water data centers may soon close, threatening states’ water management

Computing and Communications

HPCwire: NSF’s Greg Hager’s letter to CISE community on supporting research amid change
Quanta Magazine: Science, promise and peril in the age of AI
Emerging Technology Observatory: Still a drop in the bucket: New data on global AI safety research
Lawfare: Securing tomorrow: Why America needs an AI education corps (perspective by Kevin Frazier)
NREL: Can quantum computers handle energy’s hardest problems?

Space

SpaceNews: NASA delays astrophysics mission call for proposals amid budget uncertainties
NASA: NASA gathers experts to discuss emerging technologies in astrophysics
NASA Watch: New NASA performance criteria are here
Ars Technica: NASA’s Psyche spacecraft hits a speed bump on the way to a metal asteroid
NASA: NASA 3D Wind Measuring Laser aims to improve forecasts from air, space
NASA: NASA completes Kuiper deconstruction, plans for display
SpaceNews: Amazon establishes contact with first operational Kuiper satellites
SpaceNews: FCC opens new battlefront in satellite power struggle
SpaceNews: Space Force embraces commercial tech in major overhaul of surveillance satellite program

Weather, Climate, and Environment

Inside Climate News: How massive cuts to NOAA could impact everything from weather apps to agriculture to national security
Bloomberg: NOAA risks loss of data network and web service
E&E News: House Dems: Acting NOAA chief didn’t willingly approve firings
E&E News: Trump’s NOAA downplayed a huge finding: CO2 surged last year
New York Times: How Trump may unintentionally cut carbon emissions
Inside Climate News: In his first 100 days, Trump launched an ‘all-out assault’ on the environment
BBC News: The satellite that will ‘weigh’ world’s 1.5 trillion trees
GAO: Science & tech spotlight: Wildfire detection technologies (report)
E&E News: EPA records show DOGE staff in temporary, unpaid gigs
New York Times: The Trump administration wants seafloor mining. What does that mean?
Nature: Why the green-technology race might not save the planet (perspective by Edward Barbier)

Energy

ProPublica: The latest Trump and DOGE casualty: Energy data
E&E News: Dems pounce on Trump DOE official at House hearing
E&E News: Senators quiz DOE nuclear nominee about new reactors
FedScoop: Energy CIO Ross Graber leaving after less than 2 months on the job
MIT Technology Review: A long-abandoned US nuclear technology is making a comeback in China
Power: The next five years will define US nuclear’s fate (perspective by Carly Anderson)

Defense

Inside Defense: House Armed Services Committee boosts defense by $150B; Dems cry foul
Emerging Technologies Institute: The state of defense appropriations (podcast)
Breaking Defense: Changes in FCC rules to support GPS alternatives could impact DOD
ChinaTalk: Will everyone get nukes? (audio)

Biomedical

Science: NIH under siege
Nature: NIH to suspend funds for research abroad as it overhauls policy
Stat: The impact of Trump’s first 100 days on biotech
New York Times: Lab animals face being euthanized as Trump cuts research
Wired: RFK Jr.’s HHS orders lab studying deadly infectious diseases to stop research
Stat: Eight possible indicators of how RFK Jr.’s HHS will handle vaccine policy
NIH: HHS, NIH launch next-generation universal vaccine platform for pandemic-prone viruses
Washington Post: Scientist who was part of COVID treatment controversy returns to HHS
New York Times: Trump administration slashes research into LGBTQ health

International Affairs

Science|Business: US set to close office responsible for global science and technology deals
University World News: Interest in US for postgrad study has plummeted, data shows
Bloomberg: Global race to lure US researchers intensifies as Trump slashes science funding
Inside Higher Ed: European governments back universities’ US recruitment drive
Bloomberg: China dominates clean technology manufacturing investment as tariffs begin to reshape trade flows
Science|Business: South Africa sets up working group on science, technology, and innovation in response to Trump science cuts