Dear National Science Foundation Leadership,
We are writing to urge the National Science Foundation to reverse its recently adopted policy restricting NSF-funded researchers from collaborating with hundreds of Chinese universities and research institutions.
For decades, scientific progress has depended on international collaboration. The greatest breakthroughs in medicine, clean energy, agriculture, artificial intelligence, and climate science have emerged from researchers sharing knowledge across borders. At a time when humanity faces accelerating climate change, emerging diseases, food insecurity, biodiversity loss, and the rapid development of transformative technologies, the world needs more scientific cooperation.
The new NSF policy moves in the opposite direction. By effectively prohibiting collaboration with a vast number of Chinese institutions, it replaces open scientific exchange with broad geopolitical restrictions. The policy risks severing productive partnerships that have contributed to advances benefiting people around the world.
China is one of the world's leading scientific powers. It produces a significant share of the world's scientific publications, invests heavily in research and development, and has become a global leader in fields including renewable energy, battery technology, high-speed rail, artificial intelligence, quantum science, biotechnology, and space exploration. Just this month, China announced plans to establish a new planetary protection laboratory to support its Mars sample-return mission and launched a new international initiative for AI governance, emphasizing global cooperation on one of the defining technologies of the twenty-first century.
Restricting collaboration with one of the world's largest scientific communities also isolates U.S. researchers from valuable expertise, slows the exchange of ideas, and risks leaving the United States behind in areas critical to our collective future. Scientific leadership has always depended upon openness, curiosity, and the free exchange of knowledge.
History has repeatedly shown that treating science as an extension of geopolitical rivalry comes at enormous cost. The solutions to major challenges require scientists working together, regardless of nationality.
The National Science Foundation was established to advance scientific discovery and promote the progress of science for the benefit of society. Broad restrictions based on nationality or institutional affiliation undermine that mission. They also risk creating a chilling effect in which researchers avoid international partnerships out of fear or uncertainty, depriving future generations of discoveries that could improve and save lives.
We urge the National Science Foundation to reconsider and reverse this policy. America's scientific strength has historically rested on openness, collaboration, and the pursuit of knowledge wherever it may be found. In an increasingly interconnected world, scientific cooperation is one of humanity's greatest strengths.
For peace and cooperation,