Brief Information, 22. May 2025

Q&A: Consequences of US Research Policy and Reactions

At the start of his second term in office, US President Donald Trump announced a series of radical regulatory measures in research, some of which have already been implemented. These cuts not only affect research and teaching in the USA, but also have an impact on the international scientific community – such as on collaborative work, the publication of results or participation in scientific conferences. There is also great concern that access to important research data stored in the USA will be blocked. That is why researchers from all over the world are currently trying to secure data. The UFZ is also involved.

What changes have already occurred that affect the UFZ?

These changes are becoming increasingly noticeable and affect multiple areas. For example, in 2022, the UFZ, together with colleagues from the University of Buffalo, obtained a three-year grant from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to jointly research the effects of the forever chemical PFAS. Several months before the end of the project, the funding was suddenly cancelled without an alternative, despite the current importance of the subject and promising results. In another case, a recognized scientific journal stopped the review process of a publication and announced that "due to recent changes in operational resources, no new manuscripts will be accepted". UFZ scientists also report that US colleagues from science and government have suddenly cancelled their participation in international scientific conferences, which, if this trend were to continue, would of course be very negative for cooperation. And finally, there are fears that scientifically and socially relevant data sets from the fields of climate and earth system research will be deleted or made inaccessible.

Which research data are affected?

Examples include data stored by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which are important for the risk assessment of chemicals and chemical mixtures or the development of alternatives to animal testing. Or data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which are indispensable for marine research.

What is actually being done about this?

Researchers from all over the world are currently trying to secure data that could be affected – including research centres of the Helmholtz Earth and Environment research field. In another example, the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) is securing NOAA data in the open access library PANGAEA, thereby ensuring long-term access to the data for every project, every institution and every individual scientist worldwide. The UFZ, in turn, is primarily responsible for securing EPA data – including the CompTox Chemicals Dashboard, the ECOTOX Knowledgebase and the ToxValDB and ToxRefDB databases.

Why are these data important for research?

The CompTox Dashboard, for example, is practically a Wikipedia for chemicals thanks to its comprehensive information. It includes in vivo and in vitro data, physico-chemical properties, chemical structures and also exposure data for chemical substances. The Ecotoxicology Knowledgebase publishes information on the adverse effects of chemical stressors on ecologically relevant aquatic and terrestrial species. It was compiled from over 53,000 references and contains more than one million test records covering roughly 13,000 aquatic and terrestrial species and 12,000 chemicals.

The work with the EPA databases is of particular importance, as they are used as a reference at the UFZ and other institutions. Almost every project in the UFZ "Chemicals in the Environment" Research Unit makes use of these databases in its research work. Since comparable data are not publicly accessible in Europe, these databases are invaluable for the UFZ and beyond for many other research institutions and authorities.

Further information

UFZ press office

Susanne Hufe
Phone: +49 341 6025-1630
presse@ufz.de