Hannah Jaffe-Walt (Host)

Anxious and confused scientists all over America began consulting Annika's spreadsheet and passing it around to see, is my study section actually happening? Has my grant been reviewed? Is there any point in submitting my next grant? Will I be able to keep my lab open?

How much science has not happened?

How much science has not happened?

How much science has not happened?

182 meetings. How many grants is that?

182 meetings. How many grants is that?

182 meetings. How many grants is that?

For five weeks, there were no NIH study sections, till it was 205 study sections that did not meet. All of those proposals sat waiting, and all the ones that came after, stacking up behind them. A long traffic jam of uncertainty and science not happening. And then, in March, a meeting appeared on the Federal Register, an NIH study section, and then another, and another,

For five weeks, there were no NIH study sections, till it was 205 study sections that did not meet. All of those proposals sat waiting, and all the ones that came after, stacking up behind them. A long traffic jam of uncertainty and science not happening. And then, in March, a meeting appeared on the Federal Register, an NIH study section, and then another, and another,

For five weeks, there were no NIH study sections, till it was 205 study sections that did not meet. All of those proposals sat waiting, and all the ones that came after, stacking up behind them. A long traffic jam of uncertainty and science not happening. And then, in March, a meeting appeared on the Federal Register, an NIH study section, and then another, and another,

Now, the meetings to assess new research grants seem to have mostly picked back up. Scientists are doing peer reviews, but it's not clear if the government will actually cough up the money. And a few of the grant proposals that were supposed to be reviewed at these meetings, they're being quietly disappeared from the lists. They're not being reviewed at all.

Now, the meetings to assess new research grants seem to have mostly picked back up. Scientists are doing peer reviews, but it's not clear if the government will actually cough up the money. And a few of the grant proposals that were supposed to be reviewed at these meetings, they're being quietly disappeared from the lists. They're not being reviewed at all.

Now, the meetings to assess new research grants seem to have mostly picked back up. Scientists are doing peer reviews, but it's not clear if the government will actually cough up the money. And a few of the grant proposals that were supposed to be reviewed at these meetings, they're being quietly disappeared from the lists. They're not being reviewed at all.

They seem to be the grants with DEI words or other thought crimes in them that are no longer allowed. It's unclear if the scientists who submitted these grants even know that their proposals have been dropped. Annika went to a meeting herself. It was two months late, pulled together at the very last minute, but it did happen.

They seem to be the grants with DEI words or other thought crimes in them that are no longer allowed. It's unclear if the scientists who submitted these grants even know that their proposals have been dropped. Annika went to a meeting herself. It was two months late, pulled together at the very last minute, but it did happen.

They seem to be the grants with DEI words or other thought crimes in them that are no longer allowed. It's unclear if the scientists who submitted these grants even know that their proposals have been dropped. Annika went to a meeting herself. It was two months late, pulled together at the very last minute, but it did happen.

So will that stuff that you reviewed get funded? I don't know. Was there a part of you that felt like, are we chumps? Yes, absolutely.

So will that stuff that you reviewed get funded? I don't know. Was there a part of you that felt like, are we chumps? Yes, absolutely.

So will that stuff that you reviewed get funded? I don't know. Was there a part of you that felt like, are we chumps? Yes, absolutely.

The thing that is killing her is not knowing the shape of the new normal. How many grants will now be funded compared to before? Half? A quarter? Which scientists will get funding? What kind of research? There's no data she can turn to that will tell her that.