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One of the Nobel prize granting institutions has raised concerns that scholarly independence is facing challenges in the US and globally, with political interference risking serious consequences – as scientists prepare for next week’s prize revelations.

Administrative Measures and Their Impact

The former president has implemented or proposed a series of policies during his recent administration that critics argue will hamper education and academic studies.

“I think in both the short and long term, it can have serious damage,” the official told the news agency during a discussion. “Scholarly independence ... stands as a foundation of democratic societies.”

The administration denies stifling academic freedom, saying these actions will cut waste and promote US scientific innovation.

Nobel Prize Context

The Nobel prizes, considered widely as the most prestigious research honors globally, are planned to be revealed starting soon, commencing with the prize in medicine and physiology next Monday and concluding with the announcement of recipients in economics the following week.

The awards were established by wealthy Swedish dynamite inventor Alfred Nobel and are presented for outstanding achievements in physical sciences, chemical sciences, literary works and conflict resolution. They come with a prize amount of 11 million Swedish crowns ($1.2m).

Suggested Reforms

The US president has suggested reducing the budget for the National Institutes of Health, the global leading funder of medical studies, and plans to dismantle the Education Department, as an effort to shrink the national involvement in education in favour of greater authority by the states.

The government has also said it would focus on awarding grant money to programmes that focus on “national values”, and demanded that schools cap international undergraduate enrollment at fifteen percent.

Professional Perspectives

“Regarding studies, it’s going to be a significant decline in what the American scientists can do and what they are allowed to do, their publication opportunities, what they can get money for. Consequently, this will create major impacts,” said the official, who is chairperson of the research policy committee at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.

Administration officials stated through an emailed response that America was the primary supporter of scientific research in the world.

“Our targeted cuts to waste, fraud, and abuse in both research grant funding and immigration systems are will strengthen US creative and scientific dominance,” the statement read.

University Relations

The administration has also been wrangling with multiple elite institutions – including professors could become the award recipients in coming days – threatening to cutting government support over issues including pro-Palestinian protests related to Israel’s war in Gaza, campus diversity and gender identity regulations.

Economic Perspective

British-born American economist the academic, who won the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences in 2024 for research of how institutions affect prosperity, stated that these policies would definitely impede economic growth.

“These policies are absolutely, unambiguously very negative and especially regarding job creation,” Johnson, teaching at MIT Sloan School of Management, said.

“All engineering and research-related work, in my opinion, are going to be affected,” the expert added. “Life Sciences is a especially active field currently and the National Institutes of Health is, for whatever reason, being targeted with significant reductions.”