Biophysical Society Bulletin | April 2026

Public Affairs

NIST says that the policy is intended to ensure that its foreign national associate program supports the agency’s mission while minimizing national risk. The rules have not been final ized. Roughly 500 foreign graduate students, postdocs, and research scientists across its Boulder, Colorado and Gaith ersburg, Maryland campuses could be affected, and many of them require more than three years to complete doctoral research. Because NIST operates as a hub for measurement science, quantum standards, semiconductor metrology, and advanced manufacturing, a contraction in its international workforce could reverberate beyond a single agency. Federal research institutions, including the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, and the Department of Energy National Laboratories, rely on similar global talent pipelines and collaborative training models. A precedent that shortens research appointments or narrows international participation could slow graduate training, disrupt multiagency research partnerships, and weaken the United States’ ability to com pete in strategically important fields. For a federal science enterprise built on openness, mobility, and long-term invest ment in people, the implications extend well beyond NIST’s campuses.

The cuts could indirectly affect biophysics, which relies on STFC-supported infrastructure such as synchrotrons, neutron sources, and advanced imaging. Reduced access to facilities and a smaller pipeline of trained physics researchers may slow interdisciplinary work, structural biology, and molecular modeling. By prioritizing applied programs over curiosity- driven research, the changes risk slowing both fundamental physics discoveries and cross-disciplinary innovation, threat ening the United Kingdom’s long-term scientific leadership. Japan’s New Government Signals Boost for Science and Research and Development Since taking office in October 2025, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has prioritized making Japan a technology-driven nation. Now with a supermajority behind her, Takaichi plans to invest heavily in strategic sectors, including AI, semicon ductors, and biotechnology, framing technology development as part of a security-oriented growth strategy. The admin istration is also calling for a substantial expansion of basic research in a five-year plan being drafted by the Council for Science, Technology and Innovation. Modest budget increases are already underway: the fiscal year 2026 budget proposes a 1.5% increase for basic and academic research to the equivalent of $12.7 billion, a 4% boost for the Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research (Kakenhi) program to $7.1 billion, and a 1.7% increase in university operating grants to $6.4 billion. These measures aim to strengthen competitive funding for individual researchers, support younger scientists, and stabilize university research operations. Although the increases remain small relative to long-term funding needs, the focus on both applied tech- nology and basic research marks a potentially transformative shift for Japan’s science ecosystem.

Around the World UK Physics Cuts Threaten Biophysics and Curiosity-Driven Research

The United Kingdom’s Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) will cut funding for particle physics, nuclear physics, and astronomy by 30%, aligning with UK Research and Innovation’s focus on applied research and government priorities. The reductions affect ongoing and new projects, with some potentially losing all support, and include reviews of facilities to achieve an overall £162 million savings by the end of the decade.

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April 2026

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