Court lets NSF keep swinging axe at $1B in research grants

"A US court has cleared the way for the National Science Foundation to press ahead with the cancellation of more than 1,700 research grants worth upwards of $1 billion. The ruling, handed down this week by Judge Jia Cobb of the DC District Court, rejects a request from researchers, universities and scientific societies to reinstate the cancelled grants while the case is heard. The plaintiffs had argued that NSF's mass terminations were arbitrary, unlawful and would do irreparable harm to the country's research ecosystem."

"NSF began hacking away at its portfolio after publishing a "Change in Priorities" statement in April. The new policy narrowed the scope of what counts as an acceptable "broader impact," warning that taxpayer-funded projects must not "preference some groups at the expense of others." In practice, that meant hundreds of grants tied to diversity, equity and inclusion programmes, or focused on boosting participation by underrepresented groups, suddenly found themselves on the chopping block."

"Between April and May, the agency fired off five waves of termination letters, citing boilerplate language that the projects "no longer effectuate program goals or agency priorities." Most awardees were given little explanation beyond that, despite their work having been peer-reviewed, approved and in many cases already underway. The legal challenge, filed in June by a coalition of educational and scientific organisations, argued that NSF's actions were arbitrary, violated grantees' due process rights, and contradicted the agency's statutory mission to broaden participation in STEM."

Judge Jia Cobb of the DC District Court denied a request to reinstate more than 1,700 NSF grants while litigation proceeds. NSF issued a "Change in Priorities" in April that narrowed acceptable "broader impact" activities and warned taxpayer-funded projects must not "preference some groups at the expense of others." Hundreds of grants linked to diversity, equity and inclusion or efforts to boost participation by underrepresented groups were terminated. Between April and May the agency sent five waves of termination letters using boilerplate language that projects "no longer effectuate program goals or agency priorities." A coalition sued, alleging arbitrariness, due-process violations and conflict with NSF's mission; the court declined to order retrospective relief.

Read at Theregister