National Science Foundation set for budget cut

The US Congress is cutting the budget of the National Science Foundation by more than 8 per cent, largely turning away from a new division intended to promote commercial applications of its research discoveries – and perhaps from academic science more broadly.

The cut, bringing the NSF budget to about $9 billion (£7 billion) for the current fiscal year, is contained in portions of the annual federal budget approved by the Senate and House of Representatives. The US fiscal year began in October, and the sharply divided Congress is running far behind traditional deadlines for approving government-wide spending levels.

The belated collection of budget bills – passed in an era of political brinkmanship where Republicans have threatened government shutdowns to win spending and policy concessions – delivers cuts to several other agencies that fund science, including Nasa, the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the Environmental Protection Agency.

The congressional action comes barely a year after both major parties – fearing for US technological competitiveness – came together to pass the Chips and Science Act, which promised more than $50 billion for academic research and semiconductor production but left most of the actual appropriations for later years.

Lawmakers last year also boosted the NSF’s budget by 12 per cent, largely to help it create a new division known as the technology, innovation and partnerships directorate, which was tasked with accelerating the translation of scientific discoveries into real-world applications.

But even NSF advocates were wary, having warned for years that taking on such a role outside its standard remit could eventually leave the agency with less money for its core basic research mission. That concern may already be playing out, as lawmakers said they would leave it to the foundation’s director, Sethuraman Panchanathan – an ardent booster of the new translational directorate – to spread the budgetary cuts throughout his agency.

The NSF gave no immediate indication of how it would do that. An agency spokesperson said the NSF “will work closely with the White House and Congress to optimise existing resources to ensure critical investments are made in science, innovation and the STEM workforce that benefit the American people every day”.

The situation prompted a round of warnings from advocates of academic science that Congress appears to be having trouble looking beyond the political value of passing the Chips and Science Act, leaving the US at risk of further backsliding in the global competition for research-driven economic, social and military strength.

The Association of American Universities, the grouping of the nation’s top research institutions, said it was “deeply concerned” about the NSF cut “and what it means for our future”.

“At a time when this agency has been identified as core to so many critical priorities,” said the AAU’s president, Barbara Snyder, a former president of Case Western Reserve University, “this decision is short-sighted and will cede US leadership to our competitors.”

“This is not a time to be scaling back on federal R&D investments,” said Joanne Padrón Carney, the chief government relations officer at the American Association for the Advancement of Science. “China just announced its intent to increase spending in critical science and technology fields to reach a goal of $51.5 billion in 2024 while our nation continues to underfund key agencies.”

Congress has not yet set a budget for the government’s biggest funder of basic science, the National Institutes of Health, although the Republican-led House has been working on a bill to cut NIH funding by 6 per cent, while the leaders of the Democrat-led Senate have suggested a 2 per cent increase.

paul.basken@timeshighereducation.com