On May 8, 2025, National Science Foundation (NSF) staff were informed that the agency’s 37 divisions will be abolished and the number of programs significantly reduced. Layoff notices are expected for an unspecified number of the 1,700 NSF staff, and directors and deputy directors will lose their titles and be reassigned to other roles. An NSF spokesperson said the changes were meant “to reduce the number of SES [senior executive service] positions in the agency and create new non-executive positions to better align with the needs of the agency.”
NSF funds around 10,000 of the roughly 40,000 grant proposals it receives each year. Those applications have traditionally been vetted by program managers and granted final approval by the division directors. The decision to reassign directors and abolish divisions is thought to be part of a larger restructuring of NSF’s grantmaking process, including a new layer of review to ensure compliance with presidential directives on diversity, equity, and inclusion.