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The National Science Foundation suspended at least 18 UC Berkeley research grants over a disputed foreign-funding claim despite a court injunction

In early May 2026, the National Science Foundation suspended at least 18 active research grants held by University of California, Berkeley scientists, citing unspecified "foreign funding" concerns that affected researchers say do not apply to their projects. The suspensions were imposed despite a standing court injunction restricting such actions, and at least one grant had been canceled by NSF and restored by a court before being suspended again. Berkeley researchers, who have brought a class-action challenge, said they were given almost no information about what NSF considered problematic.

Jurisdiction
Federal
Location
Washington, D.C.

Abuses documented

Actors

In early May 2026, the National Science Foundation notified University of California, Berkeley researchers that it was suspending at least 18 active research grants, sending letters over late April and early May that cited unspecified concerns about "foreign funding." Affected scientists said their projects receive no foreign funding; a researcher at Berkeley's Lawrence Hall of Science noted the center takes no foreign money. Grantees said they were given near-zero detail about what NSF considered problematic in the execution of their awards.

The suspensions were imposed despite a standing court injunction restricting such actions, and at least one of the affected grants had previously been canceled by NSF, restored by a court, and then suspended again. A federal judge had earlier ordered NSF and other agencies to reinstate terminated UC research grants, and the Berkeley researchers, represented by UC Berkeley law professor Claudia Polsky, have pressed a class-action challenge to the government's actions. Researchers and their counsel describe the suspensions as part of a broader pattern of using federal research funding as leverage against universities the administration treats as ideological opponents.

Why we recorded this

Targeting critics with government power violates the principle that the state may not wield its administrative and funding authority to punish institutions for their perceived views, and defying a binding court order violates the rule of law. Here a federal agency suspended university research grants on a foreign-funding rationale the affected scientists say is baseless, doing so despite a standing court injunction and even re-suspending a grant a court had ordered restored. This archive records when the government uses research funding as a lever against disfavored institutions and disregards the courts meant to check it.

Sources

  1. Trump administration again suspends UC Berkeley research grants — Berkeleyside primary accessed July 14, 2026
  2. Trump admin suspended UC Berkeley grants over 'foreign funding.' Some researchers say they didn't take any. — Berkeleyside investigative accessed July 14, 2026
  3. Trump administration suspends research grants to UC Berkeley — EdSource secondary accessed July 14, 2026
  4. Judge sides with UC researchers, orders federal government to reinstate millions in terminated grants — The Daily Californian investigative accessed July 14, 2026

See also