The policy was announced on July 8 and will take effect from the start of next fiscal year on 1 October 2027, when all NSF-funded projects with “restricted entities” will be disallowed.
“The US government has determined that the behaviour of these entities warrants restrictions based on national security and other foreign policy interests,” said NSF, adding that current research security risk mitigation was “not sufficient”.
The incoming policy also prohibits senior personnel on NSF awards from holding positions at or receiving research support from institutions on the restricted entities lists – maintained by the federal departments of commerce, treasury, state, and others.
John Moolenaar, chairman of the US Select Committee on China commended the “common sense security policy reforms” for protecting taxpayer-funded research but critics say it will damage US science, already disrupted by a slowing of federal grants.
NSF, which funds roughly a quarter of basic academic research, in a typical year makes more than 11,000 science and engineering awards. This year, Congress appropriated $8.75 billion to the Foundation.
But so far in FY26 – which ends in less than three months – the agency has made approximately 2,200 grants, totalling $2.2billion in funding as of July 5.
The National Science Foundation is on track for its worst year in over half a century
Grant Witness
This compares to $2.7bn administered at the same time last year and an average of $3.4bn administered at this time from FY21-FY24, according to Grant Witness, warning that the NSF is “on track for its worst year in over half a century”.
Among the universities on the government’s multiple restricted entities list are Beijing Institute of Technology, Nanjing University, and the University of Science and Technology of China.
The policy expands the Trump administration’s scrutiny of Chinese partnerships, which has seen some institutions including Cornell University and the University of Michigan end long-standing collaborations in China.
At a Capitol Hill hearing a week after the policy was announced, it was reported that policymakers from both sides of the political aisle expressed concerns about China exploiting US research.
While reiterating existing security measures, leading figures in the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the US Department of Energy said they were watching NSF’s policy closely after Moolenaar urged other US science agencies to adopt the same measures.
Democrats in the meeting are said to have agreed with Republicans on the threat of research theft but warned that staffing and spending cuts to science under the Trump administration were hindering the work of American scientists.
More recently, the government launched a fresh investigation into Harvard University’s Chinese partners, which the administration alleges are providing funding for financial aid programs that favour Chinese students at the expense of domestic students.
NSF was approached for comment but did not immediately respond.
