By Amelia Gordon
Upon his election, US President Donald Trump signed several executive orders banning federal funding on “woke research” that could be deemed as “anti-American”.
Diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs have come under attack in US legislatures, college campuses, and now at a federal and international level. So far, this has resulted in universities cutting student admissions and looking to reduce academic staff and researchers. Federal agencies in the US have been directed to avoid using terms associated with “woke ideologies”.
According to the Free Speech Project, these terms include “climate crisis”, “accessible”, “racism”, “women”, “transgender”, “LGBTQ” and many more.
It has been reported that the US government has cancelled grants which directly affect the National Institute of Health, particularly in studies focusing on the prevention of new HIV infections, healthcare accessibility and other drug research that directly affects LGBTQ+ and other marginalised communities.
This ban has now impacted Australian researchers, particularly those with connections to US government-funded projects. The Group of Eight (Go8) has already terminated researcher grants, with the ANU among those impacted.
An ANU spokesperson has confirmed that the ANU received a letter from the US government indicating their intent to terminate funding on one of the 16 funded US government research projects they have with ANU.
The US government sent a questionnaire to some Australian researchers from Australian universities, assessing their project’s focus and the academics’ own connections to China and other states.
The Trump Administration has demanded to know if the focus of these projects had green-left agendas, had links to China and also their views on terrorism, and if they align with Trump’s national ideologies.
The Go8 have raised concerns with the Australian government about the survey and its impact on Australian research. The Australian Research Council’s (ARC) discussion paper expressed that a lack of funding will make Australia unable to compete for research agreements and contacts with the US.
About forty-percent of Australian publications involve American collaborators. Terminated funding threatens critical research areas ranging from vaccine development, weather and climate forecasting, and Australia’s ability to retain international talent.
It is estimated that the US invested more than $386 million in 2024 in Australian research.
The ARC is proposing changes to potentially restructure grants and replace standalone positions with shorter fellowships.
The Trump Administration has cut $1 million AUD in funding from ANU research into terrorism and targeted violence, as it “no longer achieved the US Department of Homeland Security’s priorities”.
An ANU spokesperson clarified that the US government-funded contracts are worth $9.3 million AUD altogether.
On 18 March, Vice-Chancellor Genevieve Bell stated, “we have had the first termination of funding from the United States”.
She noted that the ANU had 15 US-funded projects, but there was no reason to suspect that these would be cut.
Bell has said, “to ensure the privacy of the staff and projects, we will not identify these individuals or projects further, but I will confirm we remain committed to our research and supporting our academics”.
Bell also expressed that the ANU “deeply value the opportunity to work with international partners and collaborators and this will not change.”
The Australian government is doing a strategic review of Australia’s research and development system to diversify funding strategies.
Graphics by Shé Chani
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