🧵 A list of keywords that allegedly trigger immediate rejection of any funding request at the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) has been circulating among American academics.
Here's why this is a chilling sign for U.S. research—while also signaling a potential opportunity for Europe 👇 🇪🇺
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Here's why this is a chilling sign for U.S. research—while also signaling a potential opportunity for Europe 👇 🇪🇺
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According to this source, NSF evaluators were given a decision tree to flag research projects using certain terms.
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https://bsky.app/profile/darbysaxbe.bsky.social/post/3lhcvn4hxwk2o
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Words that are commonplace in social science research and often essential for methodological rigor. Examples:
📌 Bias
📌 Biased
📌 Inequality
📌 Socioeconomic
📌 Institutional
📌 Women
📌 Female
📌 Stereotypes
📌 Gender
📌 Diversity
📌 Racism
📌 Discrimination
📌 Victim
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Among other things, U.S. researchers are being implicitly told not to address endogeneity problems (a source of *biased* estimates), a fundamental issue in causal inference.
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💡 By becoming the primary hub for independent scientific inquiry without ideological constraints
💡 By attracting top talents
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Now, more than ever, we need a "united" Europe—in the broadest and deepest sense of the term—to resist the tide of obscurantism.
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