Uploaded September 2025 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
The Trump administration is hitting universities where it hurts, terminating thousands of research grants in areas it deems wasteful or ideologically driven. Many scientists who study vaccine hesitancy, gender identity, and climate change, have either lost grant money or been put on notice that their federal funding could soon disappear. What does this mean for the U.S. academic-research enterprise, which seeks to cure diseases, understand societal problems, and even save the planet? And how might a highly politicized approach to doling out federal research money change the nature of science itself?
Related Reading:
The Scientists Who Got Ghosted by the NIH (chronicle.com/article/the-scientists-who-got-ghosted-by-the-nih) (The Chronicle)
An NIH Grant Is Restored, With a Catch: Cut a Study on Trans Youth (chronicle.com/article/an-nih-grant-is-restored-with-a-catch-cut-a-study-on-trans-youth) (The Chronicle)
The NIH is Requiring Grantees to Follow Trump’s Anti-Trans Executive Order (chronicle.com/article/the-nih-is-requiring-grantees-to-follow-trumps-anti-trans-executive-order) (The Chronicle)
Their NIH Grants are Back. But Nothing is Back to Normal. (chronicle.com/article/their-nih-grants-are-back-but-nothing-is-back-to-normal) (The Chronicle)
Guest
Stephanie M. Lee (chronicle.com/author/stephanie-m-lee) , senior writer at The Chronicle of Higher Education.
For more on today’s episode, visit chronicle.com/collegematters (chronicle.com/collegematters) . We aim to make transcripts available within a day of an episode’s publication.
The Trump administration is hitting universities where it hurts, terminating thousands of research grants in areas it deems wasteful or ideologically driven. Many scientists who study vaccine hesitancy, gender identity, and climate change, have either lost grant money or been put on notice that their federal funding could soon disappear. What does this mean for the U.S. academic-research enterprise, which seeks to cure diseases, understand societal problems, and even save the planet? And how might a highly politicized approach to doling out federal research money change the nature of science itself?
Related Reading:
The Scientists Who Got Ghosted by the NIH (chronicle.com/article/the-scientists-who-got-ghosted-by-the-nih) (The Chronicle)
An NIH Grant Is Restored, With a Catch: Cut a Study on Trans Youth (chronicle.com/article/an-nih-grant-is-restored-with-a-catch-cut-a-study-on-trans-youth) (The Chronicle)
The NIH is Requiring Grantees to Follow Trump’s Anti-Trans Executive Order (chronicle.com/article/the-nih-is-requiring-grantees-to-follow-trumps-anti-trans-executive-order) (The Chronicle)
Their NIH Grants are Back. But Nothing is Back to Normal. (chronicle.com/article/their-nih-grants-are-back-but-nothing-is-back-to-normal) (The Chronicle)
Guest
Stephanie M. Lee (chronicle.com/author/stephanie-m-lee) , senior writer at The Chronicle of Higher Education.
For more on today’s episode, visit chronicle.com/collegematters (chronicle.com/collegematters) . We aim to make transcripts available within a day of an episode’s publication.
