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‘Scientists will not be silenced’: thousands protest Trump research cuts

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  NEWS 07 March 2025 ‘Scientists will not be silenced’: thousands protest Trump research cuts Researchers at Stand Up for Science rallies voice defiance against the policies of US President Donald Trump’s administration. By  Julian Nowogrodzki ,  Humberto Basilio ,  Heidi Ledford ,  Brendan Maher  &  Alexandra Witze Washington DC. Boston, Massachusetts. Denver, Colorado. Seattle, Washington. Trenton, New Jersey Thousands of researchers and supporters of science protested in more than 30 cities across the United States and Europe today against actions taken by the administration of US President Donald Trump  to cut the US scientific workforce  and  slash spending on research worldwide . The mood was defiant at many of the rallies, where chants of “Scientists will not be silenced”, “Facts over fear” and “What do we want? Peer review! When do we want it? Now!” were heard. Quoting musician Bob Marley, Rush Holt Jr, former chief executive...

Thousands gather across U.S .and world in Stand Up for Science events

Thousands gather across U.S .and world in Stand Up for Science events Scientists and their supporters rallied across the country in response to layoffs and funding cuts ordered by the Trump administration 7 Mar 2025 1:10 PM ET By Alexa Robles-Gi L WASHINGTON, D.C.— Thousands of researchers and their supporters, including recently fired federal workers, gathered in front of the Lincoln Memorial here today to protest what they consider the antiscience actions of President Donald Trump in the nearly 7 weeks since he took office. The nation’s capital is just one of the many locations hosting the rally, called Stand Up for Science, with about 30 events nationwide and additional rallies outside the United States, bringing the expected total to more than 150 events (see slideshow,  below ).  Trump’s administration—marked by severe budget cuts to research funding and widespread layoffs across science-funding agencies—sparked the rare political action among members of the scientific co...

Maine Stands Up For Science - Scarborough group photo

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Thanks everyone for supporting each other and science! Follow this link to see photos from across the state.

Maine Stands Up For Science - Scarborough video

 

Trump's nominee for NIH chief talks frozen grants and fostering ‘scientific dissent’

 Nature News Trump's nominee for NIH chief talks frozen grants and fostering ‘scientific dissent’ Health economist Jay Bhattacharya, who drew censure for controversial views on COVID-19, vows to provide funding but is short on details. by Julian Nowogrodski Jay Bhattacharya, US President Donald Trump’s nominee for director of the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), said Wednesday that he is committed to ensuring that  scientists at the NIH and those who receive NIH grants  have the funding to do their work ― but he was vague on how he would accomplish that. During his confirmation hearing before the Senate, Bhattacharya, who is a health economist at Stanford University in California, also seemed to distance himself from  the recent turmoil at the agency . Grant processing has largely ground to a halt, and  roughly 1,200 of the NIH’s 20,000 staffers were fired  in mid-February. “I wasn’t involved in the personnel decisions to date,” he said, when asked a...

NIH centralizes peer review to improve efficiency and strengthen integrity

  Thursday, March 6, 2025 NIH centralizes peer review to improve efficiency and strengthen integrity Today the National Institutes of Health is announcing plans to centralize peer review of all applications for grants, cooperative agreements and research and development contracts within the agency’s Center for Scientific Review (CSR). The proposed approach is expected to save more than $65 million annually by eliminating duplicative efforts across the agency, making the review process more efficient.   “At NIH, we are working to optimize our resources to support the best science,” said Acting NIH Director Matthew J. Memoli, M.D. “By centralizing the peer review process, we will not only reduce costs—we will also improve the quality, consistency and integrity of review, and maximize competition of similar science across the agency.”    More than 80% of NIH’s funding overall supports research institutions across the country, largely through competitive grants...

NIH to terminate hundreds of active research grants

  NEWS 06 March 2025 Exclusive: NIH to terminate hundreds of active research grants Studies that touch on LGBT+ health, gender identity and DEI in the biomedical workforce could be terminated, according to documents obtained by  Nature . By  Max Kozlov  &  Smriti Mallapaty In an unprecedented move,  the US National Institutes of Health (NIH)  has begun mass terminations of research grants that fund active scientific projects because they no longer meet “agency priorities”. NIH staff members have been instructed to identify and potentially cancel grants for projects studying transgender populations, gender identity, diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in the scientific workforce, environmental justice and any other research that might be perceived to discriminate on the basis of race or ethnicity, according to documents and an audio recording that  Nature  has obtained. Grants that allot funding to universities in China and those related...