Michael Kratsios, Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and science adviser for the Trump administration, has laid out a plan for the U.S. to return to "gold-standard science." Kratsios said this would be achieved via strategic funding mechanisms like public-private partnerships and innovation prizes. Neal Lane, former science adviser to President Bill Clinton and ex-director of the National Science Foundation (NSF), notes that unless the current administration prioritizes science, research funding is at risk of significant cuts, which would hinder the nation's scientific progress and competitiveness.
Neal Lane, former NSF director, views the NSF’s termination of DEI-related and other grants following an executive order from President Donald Trump, as unprecedented and deeply troubling, suggesting that NSF leadership is constrained by political pressure. He interprets current NSF leadership's messaging as a quiet effort to preserve inclusive research within new limits, emphasizing that true scientific progress requires broad participation.
The National Science Foundation fired 168 employees on Tuesday, a move meant to ensure compliance with President Trump's executive order aimed at reducing the federal workforce in the name of efficiency. Neal Lane, who served as director of the NSF from 1993 to 1998, described the firings as a waste of resources that may cause scientists to leave the field altogether.
Scientists across the US have been left reeling after a spate of executive orders from US President Donald Trump has led to staff layoffs, slashed research budgets and axed diversity programs. Lane, a former science adviser to President Clinton, told Physics World that “dismantling all federal DEI programs and related activities will damage lives and careers of millions of American women and men, including scientists, engineers, technical workers – essentially everyone who contributes to advancing America’s global leadership in science and technology.”
Recent actions by the White House that have raised concerns among researchers regarding the control and funding of scientific research. Lane, who served as director of the National Science Foundation from 1993 - 1998, notes that if these actions continue, it would be an "unprecedented" departure from how science has been funded for decades.