Zoe Berg

A U.S. Senate report spearheaded by Republican Sen. Ted Cruz identified about $4.7 million of Yale’s National Science Foundation grants that “promoted Diversity, Equity and Inclusion,” or DEI.

Cruz claimed that over $2.05 billion of NSF funding nationwide has gone to projects that promote DEI or incorporate social justice themes into scientific research. Many of the flagged Yale grants focus on incorporating DEI frameworks into scientific education and STEM workforce development. 

“Over the past few weeks, the Trump administration has been taking a sledgehammer to the radical left’s woke nonsense. DEI initiatives have poisoned research efforts, eroded confidence in the scientific community, and fueled division among Americans,” Cruz wrote in a statement. “Congress must end the politicization of NSF funding and restore integrity to scientific research.” 

NSF is currently reviewing its grants on whether they comply with new federal restrictions on funding DEI-related initiatives. Cruz requested “significant scrutiny” of awards listed in his report.

The NSF has not yet provided a definitive timeline, leaving faculty and postdoctoral researchers uncertain about the future of their projects.

The funding cuts would particularly impact postdoctoral students and early-career researchers, many of whom receive DEI-related training grants. 

“It is very difficult to say at this point what is actually going to happen to funding, but I am very concerned by these developments, particularly for early-career faculty,” wrote Steven Girvin, professor of physics at Yale.

Without stable federal funding, Girvin explained, younger faculty members may struggle to establish independent research programs, which could hinder scientific progress in the long run.

Antonio Porras-Valverde, a researcher in Yale’s Department of Astronomy, said that fellows, including those on NSF Ascend grants designed to support underrepresented groups in mathematical and physical sciences, now worry about their funding and the possibility that grants promised for multiple years may only last for one.

Faculty members and researchers expressed concerns about the long-term impact of possible funding cuts on scientific discovery and the next generation of scholars. 

“Our universities and our scientific enterprise are the envy of the world,” said Meg Urry, the director of the Yale Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics. “But taking a sledgehammer to the research infrastructure will change that rapidly, and the damage may not be possible to repair.”

Urry stressed that cutting NSF funding could stifle discoveries that might not show immediate applications but could revolutionize industries decades later, emphasizing the unpredictable nature of scientific breakthroughs.

Girvin noted that private sector investments do not typically fund foundational research, even though industries often reap the benefits in the long run.

Many groundbreaking discoveries, from quantum mechanics to modern computing, originated from federally funded research — often by NSF — before being commercialized by private companies.

Outside of NSF grants, few options remain for astronomy research.

“Astronomy funding is already very limited, if NSF funding is cut more, it is going to make other sources of funding even more competitive,” said Colin Burke, an NSF astronomy and astrophysics postdoctoral fellow at Yale.

The Yale Astronomy Department is located at 219 Prospect St.