September 2026
Recent developments at the National Science Foundation (NSF) have implications for education research and the broader social and behavioral sciences. The actions come as NSF remains without a permanent director and amid the dismissal earlier this year of the National Science Board.
GRFP Solicitation Limits Eligibility for STEM Education and Social Science Fields
In August, NSF issued the FY 2027 solicitation for the Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP), which recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students pursuing full-time, research-based master's and doctoral degrees.
Unlike previous GRFP solicitations, the FY 2027 solicitation does not include STEM Education and Learning Research as an eligible major field of study. It also removes several social science disciplines: Communications, Cultural Anthropology, International Relations, Law and Social Science, Political Science, Public Policy, Science Policy, Social Science Education.
The solicitation also removes the Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences (SBE) Directorate as a participating organization, consistent with the administration’s FY 2027 budget proposal to eliminate the directorate.
NSF Acting Director Provides Update to the Research Community
NSF Chief of Staff Brian Stone, who is performing the duties of NSF director, outlined the agency’s priorities in a letter to the research community titled “NSF Leadership in the Golden Age of Science.” The letter describes how NSF plans to implement recommendations from the report released in July by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Director Michael Kratsios, “Science: A New Golden Age.” Read a summary in the August issue of AERA Highlights.
Stone detailed NSF’s plans to pursue a portfolio-based approach encompassing discovery-focused research, translational programs, and talent-development initiatives. He also described plans to expand the time horizons and funding mechanisms available for transformative projects and to pilot review processes designed to “surface high-potential ideas that may be too divisive for committee consensus.”
NSF will establish an Office of Metascience to support continuous improvement within the agency. The office will focus on new approaches to funding, merit review, program management, and the adoption of emerging tools.
In addition, NSF will launch four cross-directorate Frontier Initiatives overseen by the Office of the Director:
Stone’s letter identifies STEM talent development through “sustained hands-on experience” as an NSF priority. However, it does not mention STEM education research or NSF’s role in developing the evidence base for effective education and mentoring programs. The letter also states that participants will be identified using “merit-based criteria anchored in demonstrated technical ability and other measures predictive of scientific success,” but does not address NSF’s longstanding efforts to broaden participation in STEM.
NSF Removes Prevention of Political Interference from Scientific Integrity Policy
NSF issued its updated Scientific Integrity Policy on September 1. As reported by the American Institute of Physics FYI newsletter, the revised policy no longer explicitly prohibits political interference in NSF’s scientific activities or in the use of scientific information, although it continues to prohibit “inappropriate influence.”
The updated policy incorporates principles from the administration’s Gold Standard Science Executive Order, while removing previous references to diversity, equity, and inclusion.