Rachel Bernstein

‘Completely shattered.’ Changes to NSF’s graduate student fellowship spur outcry The announcement comes months later than usual, leaving many would-be applicants stranded

NSF today released instructions for the next round of applicants to its Graduate Research Fellowship Program. A key group—second-year Ph.D. students—is no longer eligible, and students who are still able to apply will face an unusually narrow timeframe. https://scim.ag/3KlQkQk

A week later and prospective applicants are still awaiting the instructions for this year's #NSFGRFP. I checked in with NSF today and was told "I don’t have anything for you at the moment." #GradSchool

Delays, uncertainty plague NSF fellowship for graduate students After an unusual award process this year, applicants for next year are waiting for overdue guidelines

"We are so very late that many students will not be able to apply this year."

My latest story—about frustration over delays for NSF's graduate research fellowship program. #NSFGRFP #GradSchool @science.org

www.science.org/content/arti...

Delays, uncertainty plague NSF fellowship for graduate students After an unusual award process this year, applicants for next year are waiting for overdue guidelines

Since the deadline update last week there's not been any change to the GRFP website. And even if it's opened tomorrow, students will have a bit over a month instead of the usual 90 days.

Exclusive: ‘I have done all I can’: NSF director announces he is resigning Sethuraman Panchanathan, a Trump appointee who has led the agency since 2020, leaves amid mass firings and grant terminations

Exclusive: The director of the National Science Foundation announced his resignation today, 16 months before his 6-year term ends, in a letter to staff obtained by Science. scim.ag/42vc3fn

Exclusive: NSF director to resign amid grant terminations, job cuts and controversy

"Panch" is resigning today as NSF director; Appointed during Trump's first term, he couldn't stomach Trump 2.0 www.science.org/content/arti...

Exclusive: NSF director to resign amid grant terminations, job cuts, and controversy “I have done all I can,” says Sethuraman Panchanathan, a Trump appointee who has led agency since 2020

Big news from NSF www.science.org/content/arti...

I'm the editor at Science Careers, which I think fits that description, feel free to be in touch

CSR director Noni Byrnes also said the center hopes to soon catch up on its backlog of reviews: "We ... are incredibly committed to getting it done.”

NIH will eliminate many peer review panels and lay off some scientists overseeing them

The plan to centralize NIH's system for vetting research proposals under its Center for Scientific Review has been under consideration since last summer, but some worry about the implications of implementing it under the current administration www.science.org/content/arti...

5/ I hate to be negative, but I do want to make sure that US trainees are aware of the competitive landscape. Canadian scientists should be lobbying @governmentofcanada.bsky.social for more funds to bring talented international students and post-docs into Canada at this moment of crisis.

NIH announces some key grant-review meetings will restart in late March Trump policy blocking required notices has frozen reviews of thousands of grants

NIH submitted notices for four meetings to the Federal Register today www.science.org/content/arti...

NSF downsizes summer research program for undergraduates Many participants are from groups underrepresented in science

A generation of scientists could be lost through the axing of various programs designed to help young people find a path into basic and applied research. www.science.org/content/arti...

And perhaps most importantly, broader audiences need to know *why these cuts matter*:

“For students whose home institutions aren’t major research universities, a summer REU may be the only way to get the research experience needed to be admitted to a high-quality graduate program.”

NSF downsizes summer research program for undergraduates Many participants are from groups underrepresented in science

This helps to understand what's going on with the REUs (Research Experience for Undergraduates):

On Feb 13, NSF said: "Although we [had earlier] sent many of you emails expressing our plans to recommend for funding...We deeply regret that we are not going to be able to hold to all of those plans."

NSF downsizes summer research program for undergraduates Many participants are from groups underrepresented in science

On the REU cancellations: “It’s a gut punch” www.science.org/content/arti...

NIH ban on renewing senior scientists adds to assaults on its in-house research Policy follows firings of tenure-track scientists and suspension of training programs

More hits to #NIH:

"The Trump administration has imposed a new restriction on employment that could push out thousands of NIH’s senior scientists: The agency cannot retain scientists in 1-year to 4-year positions that have long been routinely renewed." 🧪
@jocelynkaiser.bsky.social at @science.org

Even faced with the same data, ecologists sometimes come to opposite conclusions Study highlights powerful role subjective choices can play in research, though some critics urge caution about applying findings too broadly

Give a group of scientists the same data and the same research question, and they should come up with similar answers—in theory. But they don’t.
www.science.org/content/arti... (by @cathleenogrady.bsky.social)

Texas child is first confirmed death in growing measles outbreak The unvaccinated school-aged child is the first confirmed fatality in Texas’s worst measles outbreak in three decades.

Vaccinate your children. PLEASE. What an unbearable loss for this family. It was preventable.

www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...

More NIH job cuts coming? Agency's scientists already reeling after week of firings NIH is appealing loss of some lab leaders among in-house research program while bracing for the next actions from the Trump administration

Already bruised by the Trump administration’s first round of firings of federal workers, employees at NIH faced more bad news. NIH’s 27 institute directors were told this week that the agency must cut staffing back to 2019 levels, or at least 10% below its 2024 tally. scim.ag/3EP8gjy

U.S. early-career researchers struggling amid chaos Uncertain funding, government firings, and distressed universities hit vulnerable groups especially hard

"These kinds of shocks are going to lead to a mass exodus … for minorities in particular.”

For my latest @science.org story, I spoke with early career researchers who have been affected by the federal upheaval and are concerned about what it means for their future.

www.science.org/content/arti...

More NIH job cuts coming? Agency's scientists already reeling after week of firings NIH is appealing loss of some lab leaders among in-house research program while bracing for the next actions from the Trump administration

“I am heartbroken for what is happening to biomedical research and scared at what is going to happen to public health in this country and around the world as a result”

The latest on NIH www.science.org/content/arti...

Scientists, we want to hear your stories. Guidelines for submitting Working Life personal essays for @science.org here: promo.aaas.org/images/caree...

I’m an NIH-funded researcher, drowning in uncertainty “I’ll keep doing what I can to move my research forward. But I, and so many others, can’t do this indefinitely,” this assistant professor writes

Thanks to @vjrp.bsky.social for sharing her experience with what is on the minds of so many researchers who rely on NIH funding www.science.org/content/arti...

I’m an NIH-funded researcher, drowning in uncertainty “I’ll keep doing what I can to move my research forward. But I, and so many others, can’t do this indefinitely,” this assistant professor writes

In my latest article for @science.org, I reflect on the current challenges faced by early-career researchers, including delays in grant reviews, uncertainty around NIH funding freezes and changes, and the critical need for continued support and advocacy.
www.science.org/content/arti...

‘Wrecking ball’: RFK Jr. moves to fire thousands of health agency employees Supervisors deliver bad news across NIH, CDC

"This will decimate our ability to function" www.science.org/content/arti...

HHMI kills program aimed at boosting inclusivity in STEM education “Inclusive excellence” program had committed $60 million to 104 institutions

The Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the nation’s largest private funder of biomedical research, yesterday killed a $60 million program aimed at making universities’ STEM education more inclusive. scim.ag/3EtS0US