The National Science Foundation canceled all of its grant review panels this week, as the organization works to align its grantmaking process with new executive orders from the Trump administration. The NSF funds a wide range of scientific research through grants to universities and research institutions. It convenes panels of experts to weigh the merits of those proposals, ultimately informing which receive federal funding. It has a budget of around $9 billion. It's unclear which executive orders are responsible for the freeze, though researchers suspect it may be related to President Trump's targeting of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. NSF reviews grant applications based on two criteria: intellectual merit and broader impacts. The latter is a catch-all term that assesses how the research would benefit society. Historically, a crucial component of those broader impacts relate to increasing the participation of underrepresented groups in the scientific process.
The NSF funds a wide range of scientific research through grants to universities and research institutions. It convenes panels of experts to weigh the merits of those proposals, ultimately informing which receive federal funding. It has a budget of around $9 billion.
It's unclear which executive orders are responsible for the freeze, though researchers suspect it may be related to President Trump's targeting of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. NSF reviews grant applications based on two criteria: intellectual merit and broader impacts. The latter is a catch-all term that assesses how the research would benefit society. Historically, a crucial component of those broader impacts relate to increasing the participation of underrepresented groups in the scientific process.