Research Funding Under Pressure as US and UK Shift Priorities
Research communities in the US and UK face funding disruptions as governments demand greater alignment with national priorities. UKRI has paused grant programs while early-career researchers advocate for increased NIH funding.
The American Association for Cancer Research hosted its eleventh annual Early-career Hill Day on March 18, 2026, bringing twenty students, trainees, and early-career scientists from 16 states to Washington, D.C. The participants attended more than 50 meetings on Capitol Hill to advocate for increased research funding.
In their meetings, participants called on Congress to place limits on the Administration's use of multi-year funding mechanisms to avoid further reduction of new research grants that can be supported, prioritize medical research by providing at least $51.3 billion for the National Institutes of Health's foundational work, a $4.1 billion increase over the FY 2026 program level, and provide $7.99 billion for the National Cancer Institute, an increase of $640 million.
The science funding body UK Research and Innovation is made up of seven research councils, including the Medical Research Council and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council. Before Christmas, UKRI set out how it would allocate its four year £38.6bn allocation from the government to the various councils through three priority "buckets." There would be £8bn for targeted research and development "addressing national and societal priorities," £7bn to commercialise cutting edge technologies, and £14bn for what it described as "curiosity driven research."
After the announcement, unexpected funding cuts and grant funding "pauses" were announced across several UKRI councils. The Medical Research Council paused funding opportunities including those for projects in infections and immunity, molecular and cellular medicine, neurosciences and mental health, and population and systems medicine. UKRI's website states, "We will announce in the spring the precise timeline for reopening funding opportunities."
The country's national science-funding agency has paused existing grant programmes for research in the medical, biological and physical sciences while its leadership works out how its future funding decisions can align more closely with the government's goals. The UK government promises that UKRI's envelope of funding will increase from around £9.2 billion in the 2026–27 financial year to £9.8 billion in 2029–30. At the same time, research funders have been given "clear direction from government" to better align their spending with "national and societal priorities."
In the United States, the federal government has attempted to slash funding while also making it clear that funding decisions need to mirror its priorities. This has led to the defunding of research into climate change and women's health as well as studies in diversity, equity and inclusion, and the country has scaled back its international cooperation. The US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, one of 27 institutes and centres at the National Institutes of Health, is expected to deprioritize studies on pandemic preparedness and biodefence.
The European Union is planning to break a long-standing convention and include defence research as a theme for the next iteration of Horizon Europe, the world's largest science-funding scheme. Last October, Italy's government announced that it plans to reshape the country's science-funding system.