Michael Kratsios, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, lays out the administration’s science policy pitch around a report titled “Science, a new golden age”. He rejects claims the administration is “anti-science”, arguing the bigger issue is that science has become politicised and that federal spending should be judged by outcomes rather than annual budget growth.
Kratsios discusses proposed changes to federal research funding, including creating “meta-science” units at NSF and NIH to run experiments on grant-making methods. He describes trials such as “golden tickets” for peer reviewers to back high-risk proposals and exploring grant durations shorter or longer than the standard 18 months.
On contentious budget and culture-war issues, Kratsios cites an analysis he attributes to Senator Ted Cruz claiming about 25% of NSF grants during the Biden administration went to DEI-related initiatives, which he says should not be treated as science. On climate, he aligns with Energy Secretary Wright’s position that the climate is changing and humans have contributed to CO2 increases, but argues the evidence does not support a “climate emergency”, criticising reliance on the RCP 8.5 scenario.
Kratsios emphasises strategic competition with China, warning about IP theft, dumping, and critical mineral leverage, while arguing the US innovation system benefits from decentralisation and market competition. He also raises pipeline concerns, including declining shares of US-born STEM PhDs, and says Bhattacharya told him the median age of intramural NIH researchers is 71, framing it as a case for rebuilding opportunities for younger scientists.
Michael Kratsios says Jay Bhattacharya, whom he identifies as director of the NIH, told him the median age of an intramural NIH researcher is 71. Kratsios presents the figure as evidence of an ageing research workforce and suggests reforms aimed at bringing younger scientists into federal research settings.
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