WASHINGTON: US National Science Foundation research grants are on track for their lowest annual level in about 40 years, with 5,684 awards issued as of August 19, 2026.
According to Nature, the science journal said NSF had historically awarded about 11,000 grants a year. Science journalist Dan Garisto said the current total was the lowest seen since the early 1980s.
Nature reported that NSF staff linked part of the decline to more than USD 1 billion from the agency’s USD 8.8 billion budget being placed in a separate account for a White House initiative called “Grand Research Challenges”.
The initiative is being overseen by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, according to the report. Meanwhile, Democratic members of the House Science Committee have questioned the funding arrangement.
Representatives Zoe Lofgren and George Whitesides wrote to OSTP Director Michael Kratsios seeking an explanation of where the NSF money had gone and whether its use had been authorised by Congress.
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At a July 22 hearing, Kratsios told Lofgren he was not familiar with the details and referred questions to NSF. The lawmakers later accused him of failing to provide a clear explanation of the funding shift.
The supplied material attributes the USD 1 billion reallocation to NSF staff cited by Nature. It does not include a formal NSF or White House document confirming the exact amount transferred to the initiative.
