NSF slashes research programs to support new tech initiative, insiders say

15 years ago you could argue that venture capital wasn't funding enough advanced tech, so ideas were failing to cross the gap from pure research to commercial development. But lately there's capital available for quantum computers, fusion, synthetic bio, space exploration, asteroid mining, and lots more. The government is going to suck at funding the right things. They should leave tech transfer to private investors, and focus on funding pure science.

More or less a handout to the tech industry. This is just the STTR program with even less oversight and a questionable funding source.

Curious what the plan is when the academic pipeline for training researchers collapses entirely. AI all the things?

The next generation of life-improving technologies will likely come out of AI/robotics trained on high-quality data that hasn't been collected yet. Medical, ecological, resource and waste management, agriculture, home automation, etc.

Scientists are literal pros at identifying and collecting (if not organizing) high-quality data.

This really should be a period of supercharging basic science in recognition of that, not looting it.

“According to a June 18 memo…” That’s cool, bruh. Can we see the memo?

“According to a June 18 memo…” Cool bruh. Can we see it?

Rest assured, this will likely come with no small amount of grift.

The Trump administration has already installed political appointees in America’s federal R&D organizations including the NIH and NSF. They have final say on funding decisions. These appointees override grant peer review and regular agency channels. It’s all part of Russel Vought/Project 2025’s unitary executive theory.

These NSF initiatives could well be the next logical step to channel millions of research funds to politically connected companies and organizations. Something similar happened with the recent Reflecting Pool fiasco where the federal contracts were give to Trump donors.

There’s no reason not to believe this will also happen to America’s federal R&D. Grift aside, there’s no reason either not to believe the funds will be given to Trump administration pet projects of dubious scientific value.

again, it's all Russell Vought

most people know who Stephen Miller is but the real monster is Russell Vought

Heritage Foundation's #1 enforcer, the destruction of science and academia is their top 10

if Vance, their prized successor, somehow gets the reins in 2029 country is absolutely cooked

* https://www.propublica.org/article/russ-vought-trump-shadow-...

* https://www.propublica.org/article/video-donald-trump-russ-v...

That's not suspicious or anything...

It’s to repay the bribes

Making an effort so that the tax payers are getting a return on their investment instead of letting it go up in smoke is a good thing.

> By levying such a large tax on its other programs, the agency appears to be defying a congressional directive in the final FY 2026 appropriations bill that “No [NSF] directorate shall receive more than a 5 percent reduction relative to the fiscal year 2024 enacted level.” That language was meant to address fears by the research community and some legislators that NSF, if its overall budget remained flat, might decide to grow TIP at the expense of its other directorates—a concern that now appears prescient.

What I find so hard to wrangle is that the Trump admin does almost everything in an illegal hamfisted way, whatever their doing gets stricken down by courts, and then a year later we’re just spending time and resources undoing the obviously illegal things they do.

This change even seems like a positive one I wish they should just pass a bill like a normal government.