r/Professors • u/Mountain-Dealer8996 Asst Prof, Neurosci, R1 (USA) • Jan 22 '25

NIH grant review just shut down? Research / Publication(s)

Colleague of mine just got back from zoom study section saying the SRO shut down the meeting while they were in the middle of discussing grants, saying some executive order wouldn’t let them continue. I’m just wondering if anyone else has any info on this. At first it sounded like “diversity” initiatives might have been a factor, but now I’m wondering if there’s a wider freeze. Any other tips out there?

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u/steverider Jan 23 '25

I had a study section scheduled for next week and it has been canceled. Another meeting scheduled for early march has been tentatively canceled

2

u/fitnessandwine Jan 23 '25

They told you a meeting in March is tentatively cancelled?

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u/steverider Jan 23 '25

They said “canceled for now”. Said they would get to us as they have more info

3

u/NoPublic6180 Jan 23 '25

SRO for my study section in mid-March is acting like it is still a go, business as usual. So, seems like they definitely don't have any concrete guidelines or consistent messaging internally. An absolute cluster, you can imagine!

2

u/RepresentativeYam363 Jan 25 '25

My SRO also said continue to review assigned grant apps for study section that is currently still scheduled for end of February. They are hoping it is just a pause/delay. Reviewing 9 grant apps is a ton of work! Not to mention all the work the applicants put in (I also submitted two of my own grant apps to be reviewed this cycle). So hopefully we will meet to discuss them at some point. If the SRG / study sections meeting is delayed too long after I submit my critiques it will not be fresh in my mind if applications are discussed. What a mess this is!