The Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers (STLE) has warned that proposed changes to U.S. federal research grant rules could disrupt tribology research, reduce opportunities for students and weaken the pipeline of future researchers.
The changes, proposed by the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on May 29, would revise the Uniform Guidance (2 CFR Part 200), which governs federal research grants. In a policy statement published Monday, STLE said the proposals would change how research grants are awarded and managed while limiting the use of grant funding for conference attendance, publication fees, membership dues and journal subscriptions.
One of STLE’s main concerns is a proposal allowing political appointees to review discretionary research awards before peer review. The society said this would weaken the merit-based process that has long guided federal research funding and could discourage researchers from applying for grants.
After consulting its members, STLE’s board said it opposes the proposals “as drafted,” while supporting OMB’s goal of improving accountability for federal funding. It said several provisions would harm the 15,000-member community it represents without clearly advancing that goal.
STLE also criticized proposals allowing agencies to terminate active grants with little explanation, saying they would disrupt research projects and threaten the careers of students, postdoctoral researchers and early-career scientists. It added that requiring case-by-case approval for conference and publication costs would create unnecessary administrative work for researchers, universities and professional societies.
The longer-term effect could also be dissuading young people from entering the industry in the first place.
“It’s obviously not going to help, but the bigger challenge remains putting a career in lubrication on the radar of the talent in education. Awareness is low, but also cheap to raise and get good talent pipeline results from,” James Moorehouse, an industry recruitment specialist and director of ABN Resource, told Lube Report.
The society also warned that the proposals could make international collaboration more difficult, reducing the competitiveness of U.S. research. It urged OMB to retain peer review as the basis for funding decisions, approve conference and travel costs when grants are awarded rather than individually, and introduce clearer, more narrowly defined compliance requirements.