National Science Foundation staff were told to freeze outgoing funding days after NSF leadership introduced a new policy that requires that grants be screened for “alignment with agency priorities”

Staff members at the US National Science Foundation (NSF) were told on 30 April to “stop awarding all funding actions until further notice,” according to an email seen by Nature.

The policy prevents the NSF, one of the world’s biggest supporters of basic research, from awarding new research grants and from supplying allotted funds for existing grants, such as those that receive yearly increments of money. The email does not provide a reason for the freeze and says that it will last “until further notice”.

Earlier this week, NSF leadership also introduced a new policy directing staff members to screen grant proposals for “topics or activities that may not be in alignment with agency priorities”. Proposals judged not “in alignment” must be returned to the applicants by NSF employees. The policy has not been made public but was described in documents seen by Nature.

  • kata1ystEnglish
    29·
    18 hours ago

    Cannot up vote this enough. They have as much power as we collectively give them. They have proven this repeatedly by A) ignoring court orders B) In turn getting repeatedly bitch slapped by the judiciary overturning their orders and actions.

    Blind compliance is the only way they succeed. Refusing to comply and fighting back is the only way the rest of us survive.