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Alessandra Zimmermann

@alesszimm.bsky.social

566 followers 91 following 48 posts

Federal R&D Budget Policy at AAAS | Biochem PhD | views are my own | she/her

Posts Replies Media

Alessandra Zimmermann @alesszimm.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

There's two CR drafts in play and a future debate on appropriations, and if any of that confuses you - we created a new course on @aaas.org's Learning Hub to help provide some of the context needed to keep up with the Federal R&D Budget Take it here: learninghub.aaas.org/courses/265745

The image is a promotional graphic for the "U.S. Federal R&D Budget 101" course on the AAAS Member Learning Hub. It features illustrations of policy symbols like gears, microscopes, a gavel, and a vaccine. A figure is standing on a dollar sign chart, pointing upwards. The U.S. Capitol building is in the background. A button says, "Take Our Course Today!"

Alessandra Zimmermann @alesszimm.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

The last House bill will be marked up tomorrow, so there's enough info out in the world for the FY 2027 House R&D Report! This report exists in tandem with appropriations dashboard, explaining some of the context and highlighting funding-related language in the bills. www.aaas.org/news/fy-2027...

FY 2027 R&D Appropriations: the House R&D Report | American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Alessandra Zimmermann @alesszimm.bsky.social · 09/06/2026

Based on @oecd-ocde.bsky.social data, China surpassed the U.S. in total R&D spending in 2024. This means the U.S. is now #2 in all metrics we track The 2026 Global Context report is out now, with details of how the U.S. compares against the other major R&D superpowers: www.aaas.org/news/us-rd-a...

U.S. R&D and Innovation in a Global Context: the 2026 Data Update | American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Alessandra Zimmermann @alesszimm.bsky.social · 10/04/2026

All week you've seen the FY 2027 Appropriations dashboard update numbers without context but fear not: the PBR Report is now out! I tried to collect all the impacts to R&D agencies, so this is a summary of the administration's hopes for the next fiscal year. www.aaas.org/news/fy-2027...

Alessandra Zimmermann @alesszimm.bsky.social · 03/04/2026

It's Budget Day and I'm working on going through the request as fast as I can. Early numbers from the fact sheets are currently in the FY27 Appropriation dashboard, and I'll be going through the appendices today to update them with more details Hot, new dashboard link: www.aaas.org/news/fy-2027...

FY 2027 R&D Appropriations Dashboard | American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Alessandra Zimmermann @alesszimm.bsky.social · 05/02/2026

Want to learn about the federal R&D budget? Want to celebrate the R&D Budget and Policy program turning 50? Feel the urge to roleplay a congressman? Have burning questions about the budget process? The #AAASmtg will have a talk for each of your highly specific needs. Come hang out with me in Phoenix

Want to learn about the federal R&D budget? You have ample chances:
Mini-case workshop
2.12 1:30 MT
50 years of R&D Data
1.12 11:30 MT
In the mind of an appropriator workshop
2.14 10:00 MT
Government Relations Office House
2.14 3:30 MT

Alessandra Zimmermann @alesszimm.bsky.social · 04/02/2026

With appropriations for FY 2026 96% finalized, I offer to you my report on how science funding fared so far. From the numbers Congress has provided for the agencies, funding looks like approximately FY 2025 levels for most. www.aaas.org/news/fy-2026...

FY 2026 R&D Appropriations: Final R&D Report | American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Reposted by Alessandra Zimmermann

Jeffrey Mervis @policyhound.bsky.social · 27/01/2026

The US government lost more than 10,000 STEM PhDs last year, according to an analysis by Science of newly released OPM data, with 11 departures for every hire. And many OPM calls "voluntary" separations were probably pushed. www.science.org/content/arti...

U.S. government has lost more than 10,000 STEM Ph.D.s since Trump took office

A Science analysis reveals how many were fired, retired, or quit across 14 agencies

Alessandra Zimmermann @alesszimm.bsky.social · 10/01/2026

The NYT published a story that highlights how Congress has pulled back from the PBR's proposed cuts. The numbers show more favorable outcomes in the House and Senate for R&D. Damage was done in 2025, but these potential funding outcomes are better than what was feared.

Congress Is Reversing Trump’s Steep Budget Cuts to Science

Alessandra Zimmermann @alesszimm.bsky.social · 05/01/2026

I come back from my winter PTO and day one Congress drops the text of a minibus. The dashboard has been updated with the Senate Homeland numbers, and all the info in the CJS-Int-E&W minibus. A House vote is scheduled tomorrow night, and Senate likely later this week. www.aaas.org/news/fy-2026...

FY 2026 R&D Appropriations Dashboard | American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Alessandra Zimmermann @alesszimm.bsky.social · 24/10/2025

Today I got to close out the Forum on S&T Policy, and one of the big things I highlighted was that the Historical Dashboard has been revamped! It's out now, with more data, fun new visualizations, and a excel sheet if you want to play with the data yourself Check it out: www.aaas.org/programs/r-d...

Federal R&D Budget Dashboard | American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Alessandra Zimmermann @alesszimm.bsky.social · 24/09/2025

Another lit review incoming: this time looking at the impacts of federal shutdowns. While this report is a little bit broader than just the R&D ecosystem, it does provide a picture of what could happen next week, should a funding patch not be signed into law. www.aaas.org/news/researc...

Research on R&D Funding: Impacts of Federal Shutdowns | American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Alessandra Zimmermann @alesszimm.bsky.social · 09/09/2025

Today the House committee marked up their LHHS bill, which means all of the House appropriations bills have had their report language released and I could update the House R&D estimates in my report. You can find the updated report on the same page as before: www.aaas.org/news/fy-2026...

News | American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Alessandra Zimmermann @alesszimm.bsky.social · 05/08/2025

It's August recess, congress has left DC and I've got another report - this time highlighting what the Senate was up to. Just as with the House, they're missing some bills so we've worked around those gaps to try to bring you the best picture of what they've passed. www.aaas.org/news/fy-2026...

FY 2026 R&D Appropriations: Senate R&D Report | American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Alessandra Zimmermann @alesszimm.bsky.social · 22/07/2025

With the House potentially starting their recess early, here's a report on what they've proposed so far for FY 2026 Appropriations. www.aaas.org/news/fy-2026...

FY 2026 R&D Appropriations: House R&D Report | American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Alessandra Zimmermann @alesszimm.bsky.social · 15/07/2025

I've just released a new report that expands on the data that was featured in a certain NYT article last week. On top of how basic, applied, and developmental science fares in the PBR, it looks at agency R&D capacity, functional classifications, and historical trends. www.aaas.org/news/fy-2026...

FY 2026 R&D Appropriations: Federal R&D Estimates | American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Alessandra Zimmermann @alesszimm.bsky.social · 14/07/2025

A whole lot of bills were just released by the House in the last 24 hours, and I've updated the dashboard with all of them. More details to come as the report language gets released after the markups, but there's already a lot to process: www.aaas.org/news/fy-2026...

FY 2026 R&D Appropriations Dashboard | American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Alessandra Zimmermann @alesszimm.bsky.social · 08/07/2025

All eyes might be on the House and Senate, but I'm not done extracting everything I can from the PBR. So here's the Federal R&D Workforce tracker, that uses the FTE numbers to show historical data on employment at key agencies and programs, plus proposed FY 2026 levels: www.aaas.org/news/trackin...

Tracking the Federal R&D Workforce | American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Alessandra Zimmermann @alesszimm.bsky.social · 01/07/2025

All the major R&D agencies' budget justifications are now out, and thus the dashboard and PBR report are as complete as I can get them. You can now download the latest report for the (just added) summaries of Defense, NIST and NOAA. www.aaas.org/news/fy-2026...

FY 2026 R&D Appropriations: The Presidential Budget Request | American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Alessandra Zimmermann @alesszimm.bsky.social · 10/06/2025

New Report alert! I tried to compile as much of the funding and organizational changes that the FY 2026 PBR outlines for the R&D accounts that we track. www.aaas.org/news/fy-2026...

FY 2026 R&D Appropriations: The Presidential Budget Request | American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Alessandra Zimmermann @alesszimm.bsky.social · 30/05/2025

Agencies are starting to upload their FY 2026 congressional justifications, so the Appropriations Dashboard is updating as fast as I can find the documents. www.aaas.org/news/fy-2026...

FY 2026 R&D Appropriations Dashboard | American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Alessandra Zimmermann @alesszimm.bsky.social · 02/05/2025

With the release of the skinny Presidential Budget Request, the FY 2026 season officially kicks off and the dashboard goes live! Because this is a -skinny- request not everything was mentioned, so we'll keep updating as more details roll out in the next weeks and months. www.aaas.org/news/fy-2026...

FY 2026 R&D Appropriations Dashboard | American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Alessandra Zimmermann @alesszimm.bsky.social · 30/04/2025

Today @aaas.org's CEO, testified before the Senate Appropriations committee and stated that the U.S. is at a crossroads — it needs to decide if it wants to remain a dominant R&D economy or give up the title Watch the recording here: www.appropriations.senate.gov/hearings/bio...

appropriations.senate.gov

Biomedical Research: Keeping America’s Edge in Innovation | United States Senate Committee on Appropriations

United States Senate Committee on Appropriations

Alessandra Zimmermann @alesszimm.bsky.social · 10/04/2025

The State Dashboard keeps evolving! We were donated new data so you can know how many full-time PhD and postdocs are funded by state, institution, and agency. Check out the new #Researchers tab on the dashboard, plus another data donation coming next week! www.aaas.org/news/state-r...

State R&D Dashboard | American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Alessandra Zimmermann @alesszimm.bsky.social · 03/04/2025

I know I only launched the state R&D dashboard last week, but the Science is US team granted me access to their data so there's a new tab with all of their analyses; looking at STEMM jobs by state, sector, and economic impact: www.aaas.org/news/state-r... Also, obviously, go read their full report!

State R&D Dashboard | American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Reposted by Alessandra Zimmermann

Joshua Weitz @joshuasweitz.bsky.social · 28/03/2025

Working with an interdisciplinary team, we have developed a website to communicate how the White House's proposed cuts to health research would cause losses of $16B and 68,500 jobs. Find out how your community may be impacted. Explore more at SCIMaP: scienceimpacts.org a 🧵

US map via scienceimpacts.org visualization of economic loss due to IDC cuts to 15% as part of Feb 7, 2025 executive order, with shading denoting intensity of cuts.

Alessandra Zimmermann @alesszimm.bsky.social · 25/03/2025

It's Hill Visit season in DC, so we created the State R&D Dashboard, which uses (largely NCSES) data to showcase the prevalence of STEM jobs, use of federal R&D funding, and FFRDCs across the 50 states (and Puerto Rico). Click around and have some fun: www.aaas.org/news/state-r...

State R&D Dashboard | American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Alessandra Zimmermann @alesszimm.bsky.social · 18/03/2025

The full-year CR was signed into law this weekend. While it's quite likely that FY 2025 R&D funding will change again before the fiscal year is through, here's my (first) Final FY 2025 R&D Appropriations Report where I estimate how much R&D will occur under this CR. www.aaas.org/news/final-f...

Final FY 2025 R&D Appropriations | American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

With a full-year CR passed through both the House and Senate on March 14 that will fund the government through September 30, FY 2025 appropriations concludes where it started: with (largely) FY 2024 n...

Alessandra Zimmermann @alesszimm.bsky.social · 11/03/2025

The US has 3 days of funding left, with either a CR or a shutdown afterwards. Uncertainty about funding has impacts, and in our latest in the Research on R&D Funding series we summarize the studies that have looked into the effects of funding uncertainty on researchers. www.aaas.org/news/researc...

News | American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Alessandra Zimmermann @alesszimm.bsky.social · 10/03/2025

I've updated the dashboard with the R&D accounts that got anomalies in the CR bill text. All accounts that were not called out will stay at FY 2024 levels and thus show up as blank in the dashboard since there's no change. www.aaas.org/news/fy-2025...

FY 2025 R&D Appropriations Dashboard | American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Alessandra Zimmermann @alesszimm.bsky.social · 30/01/2025

Are you going to the #AAASMtg in two weeks? Don't know which of the sessions you want to attend? The Transformative IDEAs Town Hall is here for you! Representatives of sessions that will explore equity, diversity, inclusion and accessibility topics will be there to pitch their sessions to you.

A banner advertising the AAAS annual meeting with the text: Transformative IDEAs Town Hall

Thursday, Feb 13th at 2:00PM EST
Room 312 (Hynes)Come and learn about interesting sessions happening throughout the Annual Meeting

Reposted by Alessandra Zimmermann

Semafor @semafor.com · 28/01/2025

The White House ordered a temporary halt to all federal grant programs, loans, and other forms of financial assistance under a far-reaching review of agency activities.

White House pauses all federal grants as Trump orders flurry of activity

The memo instructs federal agencies to review their activities for anything that may be implicated under Trump’s executive orders.

Reposted by Alessandra Zimmermann

Sarah Rovito @sarahrovito.bsky.social · 09/12/2024

As more folks come over to this app 🦋 including for #AGU #AGU24 #AGU2024, I’ve brushed off my coding skills and created unofficial #scipol and #scipoljobs feeds. The former follows below, enjoy! bsky.app/profile/did:...

Alessandra Zimmermann @alesszimm.bsky.social · 09/12/2024

Want to increase worker productivity at the national scale? Turns out the answer may lie in funding federal nondefense R&D. I synthesized some of the existing literature on the impact of R&D funding on the economy in a new Research on R&D Funding blog: www.aaas.org/news/researc...