{"text":[[{"start":8.3,"text":"US science risks a “mortal blow” if the Trump administration proceeds with plans to impose tighter political control over federal research grants, the head of one of the world’s leading groups of academic journals has warned."}],[{"start":21.75,"text":"Holden Thorp, editor-in-chief of Science and former Chancellor of the University of North Carolina, told the FT that draft proposals released last week by the Office of Management and Budget would “subvert the principles that have enabled America to be the leader in science for the last 80 years, predicated on scientific merit always being the final arbiter of what gets funded”."}],[{"start":45,"text":"He called on business and university leaders to speak out against the proposed rules, or else “there’s not going to be a scientific workforce left in this country to carry out work of strategic interest”."}],[{"start":55.75,"text":"The OMB’s plans follow a series of attacks on US universities by the Trump administration, including cutting the federal research budget, as well as slashing funding for institutions including Columbia and Harvard, and for topics it deems politically unacceptable, including diversity and climate change."}],[{"start":74.2,"text":"While universities have managed to overturn some of the administration’s actions, and Congress has restored larger federal budgets for research, observers have warned the funds have been spent in larger, multiyear grants to fewer institutions, raising concerns over the quality and sustainability of funding."}],[{"start":92.30000000000001,"text":"The administration’s latest proposed plans remove the primacy of independent expert peer review, require senior political appointees to conduct a “pre-issuance review” of every discretionary grant, and impose an undefined “gold standard science” vulnerable to ideological interpretation."}],[{"start":109.9,"text":"Elizabeth Ginexi, a former senior official at the US National Institutes of Health, wrote: “What OMB is proposing is not a reform of grants management. It is a complete political control apparatus layered over every stage of the federal science funding lifecycle.”"}],[{"start":128.45000000000002,"text":"OMB director Russell Vought is a budget hawk and architect of the right-wing Heritage Foundation’s policy document Project 2025, which seeks to restructure the federal government. "}],[{"start":139.65,"text":"Sudip Parikh, chief executive of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, said in a statement: “This latest move is a brazen power grab by the director of the Office of Management and Budget to buck the will of Congress and the American people and will make future discoveries less likely.”"}],[{"start":156.95000000000002,"text":"He added that if the regulations were finalised, “Americans’ hopes for future cures, national security and economic strength will rely on the scientific sensibilities of the nation’s chief bureaucrat”."}],[{"start":169.45000000000002,"text":"The OMB proposals would also allow multiyear grants to be cancelled, and would bar any federal grants from funding projects related to diversity, equity and inclusion or “gender ideology”, as well as cutting financial support for the dissemination of findings, conference attendance, membership of professional bodies or collaboration with researchers in countries under sanctions."}],[{"start":191.4,"text":"Tobin Smith, senior vice-president for government relations and public policy at the Association of American Universities, called for the consultation period for the proposals to be extended to at least 90 days. "}],[{"start":204.4,"text":"“Given the magnitude and sweeping nature of the proposals contained in the revised guidance and their impact on the US scientific enterprise, it will be critical that the higher education and scientific community has adequate time to weigh in and that OMB allows enough time for stakeholders to thoughtfully consider the impacts of the proposed revisions,” he told the FT."}],[{"start":226.4,"text":"An OMB spokesman said: “Federal grants were already politicised to promote a far-left agenda. Funding went to projects like drag shows to promote diversity in Ecuador and transgender experiments on mice. That ends now. With this new rule, the Trump administration will bring transparency to the grantmaking process and ensure taxpayer dollars are spent wisely.”"}],[{"start":256.7,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1780536215_8650.mp3"}