White House science roadmap draws criticism for missing key fields and stakeholder input

A new OSTP report outlining a "golden age" for U.S. science has been faulted for omitting climate, public-health and social-science research and for lacking transparent consultation with expert bodies.

In response to a letter from the president urging a new era of innovation, OSTP chief Michael Kratsios issued the Science: A New Golden one outlet's report, a 123-page strategy that prioritises AI, quantum information, semiconductors, robotics, advanced manufacturing, nuclear technologies and space systems. The proposal asks agencies with budgets over $3 billion to outline how they will shift both the total level and share of funding toward these areas within 90 days.

However, the paper fails to disclose which researchers or professional societies contributed to its formulation, and it excludes input from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. Notably absent are explicit references to climate change, public-health threats, and the social sciences, as well as any language about international collaboration, despite the United States’ recent withdrawal from bodies like the IPCC and WHO. Compared with Vannevar Bush’s 1945 Science: The Endless Frontier, which was built on broad stakeholder engagement and led to the creation of the NSF, the new plan is seen as a top-down directive lacking the inclusive consultation that historically underpinned U.S. scientific leadership.