US National Science Foundation (NSF) to award about 6 100 new grants, 30% fewer than a year earlier
US National Science Foundation (NSF) to award about 6 100 new grants, 30% fewer than a year earlier
On August 20, Nature reported that the foundation would award about 6 100 new research grants by the end of the fiscal year. This is 30% fewer than a year earlier and 46% below the average for 2021–2024. The NSF has not awarded so few new grants in more than forty years.
An NSF research grant proposal usually undergoes independent peer review before being sent to the division responsible for processing the award. By August 19, the foundation had awarded 5 684 new grants, while about 400 proposals were still awaiting processing. All new proposals had to reach this division by August 3, so Nature estimates that the annual total will be about 6 100 grants.
Chemist Jarrett Wilcoxen of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee requested an instrument for his laboratory and twenty other laboratories in the region. He describes proposals at this stage as follows:
“The proposals have not been rejected, but they have not received final approval and funding either.”
At the beginning of the fiscal year, a 43-day government shutdown postponed hundreds of expert panel meetings, and funding for new grants did not begin until mid-April. In July, the foundation withdrew about $300 million from two directorates, affecting more than 150 proposals that had already been recommended for funding. Cuts to regular NSF programs to fund the X-Labs initiative began earlier. The current figures show their scale across the full fiscal year.
An internal NSF ledger reviewed by Nature shows that $1 016 862 632 of the foundation’s $8,8 billion annual budget is being held in a central account. This money is unavailable to regular grant programs. According to sources who spoke with Nature, a substantial share of this pool is being directed to the White House’s Grand Research Challenges initiative, a program focused on large research problems, including AI and advanced materials.
The foundation says that it will award longer grants with larger amounts of funding. This fiscal year, fewer new research projects will receive initial NSF funding.