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“Before Trump, the review process was based on merit and impact. Now, it’s like rolling the dice, because a Doge person has the final say”.

Anonymous employees of the National Science Foundation (NSF), the largest research funding agency of the US government, have been telling The Guardian newspaper in the UK what’s been happening inside their organisation. They emphasise that it’s by no means unusual for federal research institutions to shift their focus in order to reflect the priorities of an incoming administration. But what’s happening now, they say, has never happened before. Members of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) are now checking applications. According to a programme manager at the NSF, the precise details of this additional step remain opaque, and its consequences are devastating.

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