Politics and science collide as federal funding freeze hits Harvard

Trump's crackdown on elite universities may be reshaping the future of American innovation.
Text: Óscar Ontañón Docal
Published 2025-04-17

The latest news on the United States. A sweeping federal funding freeze targeting Harvard has sent shockwaves through the scientific community, threatening over $2 billion in research and development contracts.

Scientists warn this clash between politics and academia could undermine a decades-long system. The administration frames the measure as a necessary response to campus antisemitism, yet researchers see the fallout already driving talent and projects overseas.

Critical work in medicine and public health now hangs in the balance. With similar cuts already hitting Columbia, fears mount that the government's intervention is less about policy reform and more about ideological control. Want to read something related? Click here.

CAMBRIDGE, USA - JULY 14, 2019 : John Harvard statue in Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA

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