In a recent development, a federal judge in Boston, U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani, has intervened to halt the Trump administration’s proposed deep cuts to research funding allocated by the National Science Foundation. The policy change, announced by the NSF in May, faced strong opposition from universities as it posed a threat to crucial research in areas such as artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and semiconductors.

Judge Talwani ruled the policy change as arbitrary, capricious, and in violation of the law, emphasizing the importance of maintaining support for indirect costs like building maintenance and computer systems that are essential for research projects. The Trump administration’s decision to label these indirect expenses as “overhead” and impose a 15% cap on them for future NSF grants to universities was met with resistance from institutions like the University of California, which estimated a potential annual loss of nearly $100 million due to this change.

This legal intervention follows similar actions against funding caps imposed by the Trump administration on grants from other agencies like the Energy Department and the National Institutes of Health. The decision by Judge Talwani serves as a significant win for research institutions and underscores the critical role of federal funding in advancing scientific innovation and technological development.