Overview
- In July the Office of Science and Technology Policy published Science: A New Golden Age and asked large research agencies to change how they set priorities.
- OSTP and OMB gave agencies with at least $3 billion in annual research budgets 90 days to report how they will reallocate money to a short list of ‘foundational’ fields such as AI, quantum, semiconductors and space systems.
- The plan favors larger investments in industry, nonprofits and individual researchers over traditional university grants and urges faster funding tools such as rapid grants, prize challenges and so-called “golden tickets.”
- The administration’s FY2027 budget guidance paired with the plan would cut overall federal R&D and calls for steep reductions to NSF, NASA and the Department of Energy Office of Science, raising immediate concerns about grant trims and program rescissions.
- Leading scientific societies and researchers have criticized the report for limited transparency, a dismissal of conventional peer review, and omissions of areas like climate and public health, and the next steps to watch are agency action plans and Congress’s budget decisions.