...Participants reported that federal cuts and uncertainty caused a severe narrowing of the job market, cancellations of undergraduate training programs, cuts to graduate admission programs by universities, rescinded offers, and cuts to merit-based fellowship programs.
There reports of declines in government efficiency and loss of institutional knowledge in the federal workforce, such as delayed funding decisions, delays in collaborative research, and increased waste associated with the cancellation of projects that were in progress.
Open-ended responses were along a continuum from positive impacts to irreparable harm. Respondents who thought the harm was irreparable cited disruptions to time-sensitive data collection or trainings, and harm to constituents caused by loss of institutional knowledge in the federal government.
The survey delivers the first systematic evaluation of how policy changes have disrupted scientific work that supports American interests and serves the public good. Read the full technical report at: www.firsthandaccounts.org/impacts/2025...