Max Kozlov, a biomedical science reporter at Nature, dives into the chaos affecting U.S. health and science agencies following Trump’s executive orders. He discusses a wide-ranging funding freeze impacting research on diversity, equity, and inclusion. The conversation highlights the urgency of preserving critical datasets as essential online resources vanish. Kozlov sheds light on the anxieties of early career researchers facing job insecurity amid funding instability, emphasizing the need for supportive environments to foster innovation.
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Funding Freeze Confusion
The Trump administration's funding freeze is causing confusion for science agencies.
They are reviewing grants to ensure compliance with orders targeting specific language.
question_answer ANECDOTE
Data Archiving Efforts
Archivists are working to preserve federal datasets, mirroring efforts seen during Trump's first term.
This is crucial for researchers who rely on this data, like during the Mpox outbreak.
insights INSIGHT
Keyword Targeting
The National Science Foundation is reviewing grants containing keywords like "diversity" and "climate science."
The funding freeze is currently paused due to legal challenges, causing uncertainty for researchers.
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The first few weeks of the Trump administration have been marked by chaos and confusion for the nation’s health and science agencies. A funding freeze broadly targeting language around diversity, equity and inclusion has agencies evaluating research and initiatives. A hold on public communications from health agencies is affecting public health reporting to people in the U.S.—and to the World Health Organization. Entire websites have gone dark as agencies have tried to comply, though archivists are preventing critical datasets from disappearing. Max Kozlov, a Nature reporter who covers biomedical science, joins host Rachel Feltman to walk through what the next four years might hold for research and researchers in the U.S. Overall, the orders have caused uncertainty for scientists in the nation, and associate health editor Lauren Young discusses the frustration and fear she’s hearing from them.
E-mail us at sciencequickly@sciam.com if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover!
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Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper, Madison Goldberg and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was hosted by Rachel Feltman with guest Lauren Young. Our show is edited by Madison Goldberg with fact-checking by Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck. The theme music was composed by Dominic Smith.
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