NSF
An Update on This Year’s Major Science Policy Developments
On September 29, COSSA provided an update on some of the most consequential topics impacting science policy and funding. Just in the last few months the social and behavioral science community has been faced with an existential threat to NSF’s SBE Directorate, proposed changes to the Uniform Guidance for grant funding, delays in federal agency award funding, and several other Executive actions that could potentially upend how scientific research is supported and conducted in the U.S. The COSSA team discussed the status of these activities and outline what you can do to respond. View the Slides Not a COSSA member?…
Register Now: An Update on This Year’s Major Science Policy Developments
On September 29, join COSSA for the next Headlines webinar focused on providing an update on some of the most consequential topics impacting science policy and funding. Just in the last few months the social and behavioral science community has been faced with an existential threat to NSF’s SBE Directorate, proposed changes to the Uniform Guidance for grant funding, delays in federal agency award funding, and several other Executive actions that could potentially upend how scientific research is supported and conducted in the U.S. The COSSA team will discuss the status of these activities and outline what you can do…
Gold Standard Science at NSF
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is continuing to make changes to its longstanding programs and update its policies, largely at the direction of the White House. Despite being without a Senate confirmed director for more than a year, the transformation of NSF just since 2025 has been significant. ‘A New Golden Age’ Acting NSF Director Brian Stone issued a letter to the scientific community on September 10 outlining the agency’s planned research directions. For example, the letter states that NSF plans to announce a number of Grand Research Challenges in the coming weeks and other initiatives aligned with Administration priorities….
NSF Skips SBE Funding Opportunity, Limits GRFP Eligibility
Over the summer the National Science Foundation (NSF) took several actions that appear to further the Administration’s plans to shut down the Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences Directorate (SBE). As COSSA has been reporting, the President’s budget request for fiscal year (FY) 2027 included a proposal to dismantle the SBE directorate and spread any remaining SBE activities across other directorates. While the proposal is intended for implementation next fiscal year, which starts October 1, 2026, the research community has been raising concerns that actions are already being taken to downsize SBE this year. Two recent actions provide further evidence of the…
American Physical Society Seeking Input into the Future of NSF
The American Physical Society (APS) is seeking partnerships with the broader research community to develop recommendations to potentially shape the future activities of the National Science Foundation (NSF). The initiative, called NSF Forward, welcomes ideas from all disciplines and sectors. Submissions are due September 14.
New Action Alert: Urge Congress to Save NSF’s Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences Directorate!
As COSSA has been reporting, the Trump Administration has proposed eliminating the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences (SBE) Directorate in FY 2027. Advocates have been working tirelessly over the last several months to demonstrate to Congress the importance of SBE and the critical contributions made by social and behavioral science research. In fact, nearly 3,000 letters have been sent to Congress in response to COSSA’s Action Alert issued earlier this spring, urging lawmakers to save SBE. Our work is not done. Too many Members of Congress remain unaware of this issue and need to be contacted immediately….
House Science Committee Democrats Demand Answers about OSTP’s Use of NSF Funds
On August 6, Representative Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), who serves as the Ranking Member of the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee, and Representative George Whitesides (D-CA) sent a letter to Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) Director Michael Kratsios demanding answers about allegations that OSTP is directing the use of National Science Foundation (NSF) funding. The letter comes after the release of OSTP’s report, Science: A New Golden Age, and Director Kratsios appearing before the Committee on July 22 (see previous coverage). During the hearing, Kratsios repeatedly denied OSTP’s involvement in the direct oversight of NSF funding and research priorities, stating, “I am…
Trump Administration Rescinds Title VI Regulations for NSF and other Agencies
On August 4, the National Science Foundation (NSF) released a notice of a new rule in the Federal Register to rescind portions of its Title VI regulations, effective immediately. This comes after a series of similar notices across several federal agencies, including the Department of Education in July (see here) and the Department of Commerce in April (see here). These actions are in response to the Trump Administration’s Executive Order, Restoring Equality of Opportunity and Meritocracy from April 2025 which sought to “repeal or amend the implementing regulations for Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 for all agencies to the extent they contemplate…
AAU Releases ‘Leading University Reports’ on NSF and IES Slow Grant Making
The Association of American Universities (AAU) released two Leading University Reports in July on the slow-spend of appropriated funds within the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) housed within the Department of Education. The first article, NSF Is Making Fewer Grants, Threatening the Future of Scientific Discovery, released July 10, notes that NSF’s Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences Directorate (SBE) has awarded only 38 grants this year compared to an average of 357 awards between fiscal years (FY) 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024. The article continues that the uncertainty regarding awards is leading to “a reduction…
House Select Committee on China Holds Hearing on Federal Research Security
On July 15, the House Select Committee on China held a hearing titled, Protecting American Innovation: The Federal Research Security Enterprise. Witnesses included: Mr. Jeremy Ison, Chief of Staff to the Under Secretary for Science, U.S. Department of Energy; Dr. Patricia Valdez, Chief Extramural Research Integrity Officer, National Institutes of Health (NIH); and Dr. Rebecca Keiser, Acting Chief of Staff and Chief of Research Security Policy and Strategy, National Science Foundation (NSF). During his opening statements, Chairman John Moolenaar (R-MI) stated that China’s growing scientific research enterprise is a significant threat to the U.S. and argued that greater guardrails are necessary…
NSF Seeks Comment on Grant Policy Revisions, Due Aug. 24
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is seeking public comment on proposed revisions to its grant policies. The changes are intended to bring NSF’s policy in line with the White House Office of Management and Budget’s sweeping proposed revisions to federal grant regulations released in late May (see related article). The draft would revise grant termination provisions, prohibit charging publication costs to awards, and eliminate references to fixed-price awards. It also clarifies that recovery of indirect costs on NSF awards is subject to the availability of funds, meaning organizations may not be able to recover their full negotiated indirect cost rates if award…
Register Now: COSSA Town Hall: Updates on Efforts to Save SBE & Other NSF Issues
It has been a particularly challenging few months for the National Science Foundation (NSF), between a massive, proposed budget cut, removal of members of the National Science Board (NSB), and the proposal to eliminate the Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences Directorate (SBE). Along with our many partners across the STEM enterprise, COSSA has been working tirelessly to urge Congress to reject the President’s proposal to eliminate the SBE Directorate in FY 2027. We have also been engaging on the many other challenges currently confronting NSF. On June 4, join us for the next Town Hall meeting to hear the latest on the…
Action Alert Reminder: Tell Congress to Save NSF’s Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences Directorate!
In early April, the Trump Administration released its budget request for fiscal year (FY) 2027. In it, the Administration states its intent to dismantle the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences (SBE) Directorate in FY 2027. The SBE Directorate is responsible for nearly two-thirds of funding for academic research in the social and behavioral sciences in the U.S. However, even more concerning are reports that NSF leadership may be taking steps to begin dismantling the Directorate this year. In response to this news, COSSA immediately issued an action alert that has resulted in more than 2,000 letters being sent…
🔦 SPOTLIGHT ON NSF: Scientific Community Fights for NSF
It has been a particularly challenging few months for the National Science Foundation (NSF), between a massive, proposed budget cut, removal of members of the National Science Board (NSB), and the proposal to eliminate the Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences Directorate (SBE). The research community has spent much of the Spring pushing back and urging Congress to defend NSF. Saving the SBE Directorate COSSA along with our many partners across the STEM enterprise have been working tirelessly to urge Congress to reject the President’s proposal to eliminate the SBE Directorate in FY 2027. With House and Senate appropriators currently at work on their FY…
Trump Administration Fires National Science Board
On April 24, all 22 members of the National Science Board (NSB) received an email from the Trump Administration stating that they have been “terminated, effective immediately.” The NSB, which was established by statute in 1950, serves as the policymaking and oversight body of the National Science Foundation (NSF) and as an independent advisor to the President and Congress on federal science policy. COSSA issued a statement on the dismissal. White House officials are stating that the decision responds to a 2021 Supreme Court case, U.S. v. Arthrex, that “raised constitutional questions about whether non-Senate confirmed appointees can exercise the authorities that Congress…
COSSA’s Save SBE Toolkit
As COSSA has been reporting, the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences Directorate (SBE) is currently at risk of being eliminated. The Trump Administration’s budget for fiscal year (FY) 2027 would zero out funding for SBE starting next fiscal year without providing notice or explanation to the research community. COSSA is working with friends across the scientific community to fight back. We have created a Save SBE webpage with resources you can use in your own efforts to defend SBE and promote the work of the social and behavioral sciences. The latest resource is the SBE Messaging Guide. This document was prepared for…
New Action Alert: Tell Congress to Save NSF’s Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences Directorate!
On April 3, the Trump Administration released its budget request for fiscal year (FY) 2027. In it, the Administration states its intent to dismantle the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences (SBE) Directorate in FY 2027. This proposal is alarming as the SBE Directorate is responsible for nearly two-thirds of funding for academic research in the social and behavioral sciences in the U.S. However, even more concerning are recent reports that NSF leadership plans to begin dismantling the Directorate this year. Such a move raises several red flags and likely violates current statute, not to mention sidesteps…
NSF to Host Webinar on Funding Opportunities for Research Security Practices
On April 29, the National Science Foundation (NSF) will host a webinar on the different funding opportunities offered across the foundation’s directorates related to research security practices. The following NSF programs will participate: Research on Research Security; Growing Research Access for Nationally Transformative Economic Development; Law & Science; Security and Preparedness; Security, Privacy, and Trust in Cyberspace; Science of Science: Discovery, Communication and Impact; and Cybersecurity Innovation for Cyberinfrastructure. Register here.
A Note from COSSA
Friends – As I’m sure you have heard by now, the Trump Administration released its budget request for fiscal year (FY) 2027 last week, which seeks to boost military spending by more than 44 percent by slashing funding for domestic programs. Among the domestic accounts affected are federal science agencies for which, once again, the Administration has put forward budget proposals that would all but hand American science leadership to our global competitors. See the related article below for preliminary details about the budget request. There will always be budget proposals by unsupportive Administrations seeking to cut funding for things they don’t…
Trump Proposes Steep Cuts to Federal Funding in FY 2027 Budget Request
On April 3, the Trump Administration transmitted its fiscal year (FY) 2027 budget request to Congress. Included in the budget request are significant cuts that would decimate the U.S. scientific enterprise, including a repeated proposal to slash the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) budget by more than half (see NSF’s budget proposal here). The Administration has also proposed eliminating funding for NSF’s Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences (SBE). Notably in previous appropriations bills, Congress has directed the agency to fully-fund the SBE directorate. The Administration’s proposal also repeats several provisions and reorganization proposals from the previous year’s request, including a proposal to…