From the Executive Director of the Consortium of Social Science Associations (COSSA, Aug 26)
"Like me, I am sure you are troubled by the Administration's ongoing attacks on science. Of immediate concern are efforts by the National Science Foundation (NSF), with urging from the White House, to dismantle the Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences Directorate (SBE).
"I am writing today to urge your immediate and persistent action in support of SBE. In recent days we have witnessed tangible efforts by NSF to sideline--if not eliminate altogether--programs that support the social sciences:
- On August 17, NSF released 12 "foundational research" funding opportunities. The NOFOs span NSF's directorates with the exception of SBE. There are no active SBE funding opportunities for "foundational research."
- On August 25, NSF released its latest solicitation for the Graduate Research Fellowship Program. Unlike previous GFRP solicitations, the 2026 call excludes SBE from the list of participating NSF directorates. In addition, this year's solicitation removes the following fields from eligibility: Communications, Cultural Anthropology, International Relations, Law and Social Science, Political Science, Public Policy, Science Policy, and Social Science Education.
"These actions, among others, clearly show that SBE is being erased before our eyes.
"We need everyone who cares about the social sciences to contact their Members of Congress, alerting them to NSF's efforts and the need for Congressional oversight. The fate of SBE rests in our collective hands--let's show Congress just how important our sciences are!"
From Nature
Nature (Aug 20)
"The US National Science Foundation (NSF) will award about 30% fewer new research grants this fiscal year than in the last one, Nature has learnt. The steep drop continues a pattern that began last year, after US President Donald Trump took office, leaving the NSF with the lowest number of new grants awarded in more than four decades. ...
"All of the NSF’s directorates are awarding fewer new grants, but the hardest hit is the social, behavioural and economic sciences (SBE) directorate, which the White House proposed eliminating in its 2027 budget request to Congress. SBE has so far awarded 84 new grants this year, about 11% of its average, mainly in areas of artificial intelligence, cognitive neuroscience and decision-making. Much of its portfolio, such as sociology, archaeology, political science, economics and geography, has received zero new awards. 'I don’t think they’ve realized yet that there’s no awards,' one NSF staff member says of researchers in those fields. 'That’s going to be clear soon.' ”
