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 ...