The Royal Astronomical Society published this original article on May 16, 2025.
US academic freedom is under threat, says RAS
The U.K.’s Royal Astronomical Society has endorsed a statement highlighting grave concerns about threats to academic freedom and international research collaboration in the United States.
It follows recent restrictions on science and scholarship by the U.S. government, such as freezing billions in federal research funding and censoring research on topics such as climate change and gender.
The statement was issued by ALLEA, the European Federation of Academies of Sciences and Humanities, which represents more than 50 academies from around 40 EU and non-EU countries.
Academic freedom under threat, statement says
The statement says:
Such censorship and political suppression of language, research topics, and methodologies – whether through funding restrictions, legislative control, or institutional interference – fundamentally compromise the integrity of scientific and scholarly endeavours not just in the U.S. but around the world due to the global nature of the research ecosystem.
ALLEA is deeply concerned that the actions of the U.S. administration could have far-reaching and devastating consequences for essential (global) research programmes, particularly in fields such as health, climate, gender, and the social sciences.
These new restrictions also threaten the careers of the younger generation of scholars, engineers, and health professionals, and may cause lasting harm to the fundamental research that underpins most scientific breakthroughs, as well as efforts to secure a healthy, just, and safe world for all.
More than 150 institutions and scientific organizations, including the RAS, have signed the declaration.
The Royal Astronomical Society is concerned
RAS President Professor Mike Lockwood said:
We have three big concerns: chiefly, the impact these myopic decisions will have on the careers of astronomers and geophysicists – including many RAS Fellows – either via the loss of their jobs or the removal of the funding needed to conduct their research.
Secondly, the targeting of certain research areas for political reasons is an attack on freedom of speech and akin to censorship of the most destructive kind.
And finally, our longest-lasting concern is the damage this will do to future generations, because much of the work being lost to these cuts is the cutting-edge ‘blue-skies’ science which creates wealth in a modern society.
To read the ALLEA statement in full and see the list of signatories, click here.
Bottom line: The U.K.’s Royal Astronomical Society has endorsed a statement with more than 150 European science institutions outlining concerns about threats to academic freedom in the U.S.
Via Royal Astronomical Society
Read more: How cuts to science in the US endanger everyone
The post US academic freedom is under threat, says RAS first appeared on EarthSky.
from EarthSky https://ift.tt/JldTohO
The Royal Astronomical Society published this original article on May 16, 2025.
US academic freedom is under threat, says RAS
The U.K.’s Royal Astronomical Society has endorsed a statement highlighting grave concerns about threats to academic freedom and international research collaboration in the United States.
It follows recent restrictions on science and scholarship by the U.S. government, such as freezing billions in federal research funding and censoring research on topics such as climate change and gender.
The statement was issued by ALLEA, the European Federation of Academies of Sciences and Humanities, which represents more than 50 academies from around 40 EU and non-EU countries.
Academic freedom under threat, statement says
The statement says:
Such censorship and political suppression of language, research topics, and methodologies – whether through funding restrictions, legislative control, or institutional interference – fundamentally compromise the integrity of scientific and scholarly endeavours not just in the U.S. but around the world due to the global nature of the research ecosystem.
ALLEA is deeply concerned that the actions of the U.S. administration could have far-reaching and devastating consequences for essential (global) research programmes, particularly in fields such as health, climate, gender, and the social sciences.
These new restrictions also threaten the careers of the younger generation of scholars, engineers, and health professionals, and may cause lasting harm to the fundamental research that underpins most scientific breakthroughs, as well as efforts to secure a healthy, just, and safe world for all.
More than 150 institutions and scientific organizations, including the RAS, have signed the declaration.
The Royal Astronomical Society is concerned
RAS President Professor Mike Lockwood said:
We have three big concerns: chiefly, the impact these myopic decisions will have on the careers of astronomers and geophysicists – including many RAS Fellows – either via the loss of their jobs or the removal of the funding needed to conduct their research.
Secondly, the targeting of certain research areas for political reasons is an attack on freedom of speech and akin to censorship of the most destructive kind.
And finally, our longest-lasting concern is the damage this will do to future generations, because much of the work being lost to these cuts is the cutting-edge ‘blue-skies’ science which creates wealth in a modern society.
To read the ALLEA statement in full and see the list of signatories, click here.
Bottom line: The U.K.’s Royal Astronomical Society has endorsed a statement with more than 150 European science institutions outlining concerns about threats to academic freedom in the U.S.
Via Royal Astronomical Society
Read more: How cuts to science in the US endanger everyone
The post US academic freedom is under threat, says RAS first appeared on EarthSky.
from EarthSky https://ift.tt/JldTohO
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