Dear Member,

At AAAS, we know the damage that the challenges and uncertainty of the past few months have inflicted on science. We are channeling our frustration into activity on behalf of the enterprise.

Members of the U.S. Congress are starting to hear us loudly and clearly about the need to protect science and technology. In April, I testified before the Senate Appropriations Committee about the delays in disbursement of funds provided by Congress for the National Institutes of Health for fiscal year 2025. Senators from both sides of the aisle have spoken up. Most recently, 14 senators sent a letter to the Office of Management and Budget advocating for the release of all FY25 NIH funds. We told STAT and Inside Higher Ed that uncertainty in FY25 research and development funding disbursement is reinforcing the concern that the future of scientific research is at risk, and how important it is to get funding to earned awards. You can help us spread the word about why these funds must be spent before the September 30 deadline by sharing our LinkedIn and Instagram posts.  

At the same time, the Appropriations Committees in Congress have begun to set their priorities for FY26. Senate appropriators made their position clear in their latest bills: they rejected the Administration’s proposed cuts for fiscal year 2026 and instead recommended flat funding for the National Science Foundation and a $400 million increase for NIH. With much lower overall proposed spending levels, the House proposed reductions for NSF that are smaller than those recommended by the Administration and has not yet made public their recommendation for NIH.  With only two months left until the beginning of FY26, both chambers will enter negotiations in earnest — though we don’t expect final budget numbers to be set until at least the end of the calendar year.  This story is definitely still being written.

August is a critical month for our members in the U.S. to meet with members of Congress in their home districts. You can share your personal story and explain why science is important for your community and local economy. In case you missed the AAAS Local Science Engagement Network briefings, you can view the recordings: Bridging Relationships with Policymakers and Effective Meetings with Lawmakers at All Levels. In addition to these and other resources we have created, I invite you to share your experience or seek guidance from your AAAS peers via regional groups. We set them up to help members exchange resources and join forces on community-driven initiatives on the ground.

Before I sign off, I encourage to you read this fascinating story about how to communicate seemingly contradictory findings in the same area, and how the team at Science jumped on an opportunity to shed light on the scientific process to the media.

Sudip S. Parikh, Ph.D. 
Chief Executive Officer, AAAS  
Executive Publisher, Science Journals

OPPORTUNITIES & AWARDS

EVENTS