The US research enterprise too heavily centers on elite research institutions, and fails individual researchers with bold ideas, suggests the White House Office of Science and Technology in a new report. The office recommends sweeping changes to where federal funding is spent and how it should be awarded.
Released on July 21, the Science: A New Golden Age report seeks to update Vannevar Bush’s landmark 1945 report Science: The Endless Frontier for the modern era. In the report, OSTP Director Michael Kratsios argues that today’s scientific landscape — shaped by AI, global competition, and private-sector investment — requires a fundamental redesign of how the federal government funds research.
Also on July 21, Kratsios and White House Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought jointly published a memorandum on the Trump administration’s R&D budget priorities for fiscal year 2028. The memo instructs science agencies to incorporate the administration’s priorities into their forthcoming budget requests, as well as develop implementation plans within 90 days for a series of “R&D priority practices.” Those include:
Developing new research funding mechanisms; Identifying and supporting top tech talent through, for example, early career and STEM-learning opportunities; Boosting the “science of science-funding” to evaluate which programs have the greatest impact; And collaborating with industry to drive greater private investment in R&D.
The memo directs agencies to rebalance their portfolios toward foundational research, and prioritize physical science over life science. Many of the administration’s priorities, including AI and nuclear fission, are dependent on computer science, physical science, and engineering, but the report notes that the latter two fields’ share of the federal research portfolio has declined over time, even as their strategic importance has grown.
Translation:
They’re gutting any sort of science that provides benefits to people (life sciences, environmental, social) and putting the money into technology that is designed to control and hurt people (computer science = AI, while physical science and engineering = military application).
At least that’s my take. Feels like they intentionally left the memorandum as vague as possible.
This coming from the administration that thought transgenic mice were transgender 🙄 🙄 🙄
Can’t have any science that might harm profits. /s
Last time this happened, we got Tang: https://www.wideopencountry.com/tang-drink/
Not that it’s stopped them before but is this even legal? When congress allocated money toward cancer research, you can’t legally redirect it to proving renewable energy is bad for the environment or all vaccines cause autism
The only ones that can call them out on that is congress. And right now Congress is being run by a bunch of boot licking Republicans and spineless Democrats.
“Individual researchers”? Like those with fringe ideas that prevent them from joining those elite research institutes? Or like those who “prove” links between vaccination and autism, or “prove” that horse dewormer ist a genuine cure-it-all?
The memo directs agencies to rebalance their portfolios toward foundational research, and prioritize physical science over life science.
I mean yeah, why not. Listening to Peter Thiel’s hand puppet has certainly made America great so far.
Who needs funding for life science research when we got parasites and diarrhea outbreaks? Every American a walking incubator at this point.
Im glad they figured out the US was starting to develop a lead in life science and are going out of there way to hobble us. /s
