NSF Reverses Funding Freeze for Duke, Harvard and Yale

The National Science Foundation has reversed its recent freeze on new grant funding for Duke, Harvard and Yale Universities, Nature reported. Limitations on new grants for Princeton University, however, remain in effect.

The reversal took place on May 28, one day after Nature published a story detailing a funding pause for all four institutions. 

An NSF database showed that on April 9 the accounts of the four universities had been marked with a note that said, “Future Awards to Organization on Hold,” Nature reported. As of Thursday, the note had been removed from every account except Princeton’s.

So far this year, the number of new grants received by each institution is down significantly from previous years, but that seems poised to change; “a few grants” have already been released to researchers at both Harvard and Duke since the freeze was lifted, an NSF staff member told Nature.

NSF did not respond to Inside Higher Ed’s request for comment on why the funding freeze was repealed.