Rethinking The Science Priorities At NSF

Keith’s note: now that budget cuts and layoffs are approaching, government science agencies are starting to come up with the public-facing rationale for these draconian cuts. Mostly, it is word salad that often smells like Chatbot babbling and wonky talking points which drive home the same points again and again and again. In addition, NSF no longer seems to be interested in assuring the validity of scientific information used by decision makers and the general public. You can expect to see stuff like this coming out of NASA soon. Oh yes: The globe in the NSF logo is surrounded by people holding hands. The people icons are painted in shades of brown-gold, from light at the top to dark at the bottom. Sounds like diversity to me. Let’s see if they change this. Here is Statement of NSF priorities posted on 18 April. Excerpts – plus a response from House Science Committee Democrats : (below)

• “Awards that are not aligned with NSF’s priorities have been terminated, including but not limited to those on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and misinformation/disinformation.”
• “Projects submitted to legally mandated broadening participation programs must not directly or indirectly preference or exclude any Americans on the basis of protected characteristics. Projects that have limited impact or rely on DEI frameworks or advocacy do not effectuate NSF priorities.”
• “NSF will not prioritize research proposals that engage in or facilitate any conduct that would unconstitutionally abridge the free speech of any American citizen. NSF will not support research with the goal of combating “misinformation,” “disinformation,” and “malinformation” that could be used to infringe on the constitutionally protected speech rights of American citizens across the United States in a manner that advances a preferred narrative about significant matters of public debate.”

This was issued on 18 April 2025 by House Science Committee Democrats:

Ranking Member Lofgren’s Statement on NSF Terminating Awards

(Washington, DC) – Today, the National Science Foundation (NSF) announced it was terminating awards “not aligned with NSF’s priorities,” including awards relating to diversity, equity, and inclusion and misinformation/disinformation. This cancellation comes the day after Ranking Member Lofgren transmitted a letter and Minority Staff Report to NSF Director Panchanathan stressing the importance of protecting the Foundation’s gold-standard merit review process.

“Director Panchanathan suggests that these changes are responsive to the priorities set forth by Congress. This could not be further from the truth,” said Ranking Member Zoe Lofgren (CA-18). “The American people deserve a scientific enterprise free from political interference, where expert scientists and engineers participate in a merit-based review process to recommend the most innovative and promising research proposals. The American people do not want a system where polititians, be they in the Senate or in the White House, decide which scientific projects to fund or defund based on their biases. The Director’s decision disgraces the legacy of our previous Chairwoman Eddie Bernice Johnson, who shepherded the landmark CHIPS & Science Act through Congress and was a fierce defender of NSF and its gold-standard merit-review process. I call on the Director to reverse course immediately and protect the integrity of the National Science Foundation and the U.S. scientific enterprise.”