August 2026

by: Morgan Denault
Category: What's Happening in Washington
Aug
24
NSF SECURE Update
It’s been about a year since the NSF SECURE Center first connected with the AIRI community. As a quick refresher: SECURE was established under the CHIPS and Science Act to safeguard the U.S. research ecosystem, equipping higher education institutions, nonprofit research institutes, and small and medium-sized businesses with practical, human-centered research security tools. Since then, AIRI members have been active participants in a range of Center activities, and several AIRI-affiliated professionals now serve as vital members of our NPRI Advisory Committee, helping shape the tools, training, and guidance we develop for nonprofit research institutes. SECURE will host two sessions at the annual meeting: a SECURE Center Overview & Tools session and an International Collaborations & Partnerships discussion, alongside a hands-on Sunday workshop, “Research Security in a Box”, designed especially for smaller, resource-limited institutions but applicable to all. To learn more or get further involved in Center activities and products, scan the QR code.

  • On August 7, the Senate passed its version of a continuing resolution to fund the government until December 11, 2026, before heading to recess. The bill is largely clean with minimal programmatic and funding level changes but includes language that would delay the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB’s) implementation of its proposed rulemaking on federal grant-making through the end of the CR. Senator Susan Collins (R-ME), Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, has previously expressed concerns on the proposed Rule and has publicly called for a delay and for numerous sections of the Rule to be withdrawn. Upon Congress’ return in September, both chambers will need to conference their CR bills including the blocking language, which the House did not include in its version, as well as continue their work on fiscal year (FY) 2027 appropriations.

  • On July 29, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a government-wide policy to end dangerous high-risk life science research. The new policy establishes a framework to oversee life-sciences research, including broad prohibitions on federal funding for “dangerous gain of function (DGOF)” research and “international research of concern (IROC).” The policy establishes new oversight requirements for federal funding recipients and agencies, including establishing mechanisms for review of all federally funded life sciences, attestations by investigators and institutions, and the creation of a new federal review body for research that could potentially meet the definition of DGOF research (through unanticipated research results). 

    The policy differentiates between “dangerous gain of function (DGOF)” research which is prohibited and “potential DGOF research” which is potentially permissible upon additional review, but there is little clarity in how to determine whether the latter applies. This ambiguity may be addressed in upcoming implementation guidance promulgated by the research agencies. Federal agencies have 120 days to provide further implementation guidance. A more in-depth analysis of the policy can be viewed here.

  • As part of the Genesis Mission, HHS announced the NIH-led Bio Genesis Mission, which will apply AI tools to biomedical datasets to advance disease treatment and prevention and accelerate treatment delivery to patients. NIH, FDA, and ARPA-H will support six S&T challenges and NIH expects to invest over $1.2 billion in AI-driven biomedical research. The NIH Common Fund also forecasted the Bridge to Artificial Intelligence (Bridge2AI) Network for AI Health Science funding opportunity, expected to be posted on January 1, 2027, and applications will be due March 1, 2027.

    Similarly, the National Science Foundation (NSF) announced the Unlocking Dataset Value for AI-Enabled Scientific Discovery program (AI Datasets) program to advance existing scientific community datasets through AI-driven methods such as feature extraction, metadata generation, the development of data pipelines for automated analysis, and the harmonization of existing datasets as its participation in the Genesis Mission. NSF anticipates awarding Impact awards (up to $2M), Flagship awards (up to $5M), and planning grants (up to $200K), with applications due November 4, 2026.

  •  The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) published a new report titled, Science: A New Golden Age, to “reexamine America’s research and development ecosystem.” The report includes four key recommendations for government, industry, academia, and philanthropy related to the research and development (R&D) enterprise, securing dominance in critical and emerging technologies, advancing a national AI-for-science initiative, and ensuring that the outcomes of science and technology (S&T) benefit all Americans. In parallel, OSTP and the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released a FY 2028 R&D Priorities Memo that includes new research priority areas and specific directives to implement the recommendations laid out in Science: A New Golden Age report. This joint memo is released annually and is primarily directed towards the federal agencies that are beginning the process of preparing their annual budget submissions to OMB. The memo signals a shift toward foundational physical sciences, engineering, and STEM workforce development. The memo also includes four R&D Priority Practices to support frontier science, develop talent, and build a self-improving scientific enterprise. While the memo is not binding, it will inform the priorities of the R&D agencies as part of the FY28 President’s Budget Request.

  • NIH released a new Request for Information (RFI) on August 14 seeking comment on proposed changes to reporting peer review outcomes. Rather than releasing numeric impact scores and percentiles, NIH would sort applications into three categories — “Most Competitive” (top 25%),

    “Competitive” (26–50%), and “Not Discussed” — without disclosing the underlying score to applicants, institutions, or NIH leadership. Comments are due October 13, 2026.

 Recent Advocacy Action

  • The National Institutes of Health (NIH) released a Request for Information (RFI) on June 8 to solicit input on its proposal to cap the number of Research Project Grants (RPGs) an individual can simultaneously serve on as a Principal Investigator (PI) (see June 8, 2026 AIRI Weekly Washington Report). The AIRI Washington Office has submitted comments to the RFI which are available for reference here.

  • AIRI is finalizing comments on NSF’s draft Guidance on Financial Assistance (docket NSF-2026- OTR-0001), which would align NSF award terms with OMB’s not-yet-finalized 2 CFR 200 revisions and adds new biosecurity/DGOF review requirements. Comments are due August 24, 2026.

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