The Trump administration has been accused of “blatant foreign interference” in Australia’s universities after researchers who receive US funding were asked to confirm they aligned with US government interests, including only recognising two genders.
The questionnaire, sent to university researchers over the past fortnight, seeks a response within 48 hours to more than 30 questions to support “program determinations”, according to a copy of the questionnaire seen by Guardian Australia. The questions relate to the priorities of the Trump administration, including whether the organisation receives funding from China, whether there are DEI elements, and whether the project is taking “appropriate measures” to defend against “gender ideology” in line with Trump’s executive order on gender.
The questionnaires were distributed by various federal agencies on behalf of an executive memo from the office of the president, requiring them to identify all funding was consistent with “policies and requirements”.
Separately, six sandstone universities represented by the Group of Eight have already had research grants suspended or terminated in line with changes introduced by the Trump administration, according to the Go8. Researchers were notified shortly after the US election that the projects, which spanned a range of topics from agriculture to foreign aid and diversity and equity, had been cancelled under higher education cuts, pending a review.
The chief executive of the Go8, Vicki Thomson, said the body was “extremely concerned” about the implications of the Trump administration’s policy, particularly for health and medical research and defence collaboration.
“Go8 universities are deeply engaged in collaborative activities with the US, especially through our defence initiatives and the Aukus alliance,” she said.
“For every one of our members, the US is the largest research partner by far.”
The Go8 has sought Australian government intervention and last week wrote to the chair of the US House Committee on Science, Space and Technology, Brian Babin, for guidance and an extension of time to respond to the requirements.
The questionnaire seeks to confirm university projects don’t work with “any party that espouses anti-American beliefs”, or whether they have received “ANY funding from the PRC”, including Confucius Institutes and Chinese state or non-state actors.
It also asks whether research is a “no DEI project” or a “climate or ‘environmental justice’ project”, as well as ensuring it takes “appropriate measures to protect women and to defend against gender ideology” and combats “Christian prosecution”.
Universities and colleges across the US have been grappling with cuts to research under the Trump administration and the tying of its DEI agenda to funding, prompting thousands of scientists to rally across the US and EU last week.
In February, the education department sent a letter to universities instructing that any consideration of race in “all … aspects of student, academic, and campus life” was illegal. The administration has also proposed limiting curriculums on gender.
Donald Trump’s federal congressional budget is proposing billions of dollars in federal funding cuts across higher education, including capping all “indirect funding” from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) at 15%.
The US is the largest international research partner for Australia, with the two nations sharing nearly 1,000 formal collaborations. It is also Australia’s top international research collaborator and biggest global collaborator in cancer research. The National Cancer Institute awarded 211 grants to projects with Australian collaborators between 2013 and 2023.
The Go8 received about US$161.6m in grants from the NIH between 2020 and 2024.
after newsletter promotion
A spokesperson for the education minister, Jason Clare, said Australia was “engaging with the US government to understand what these measures mean for future funding and collaboration”.
“It would be premature to speculate on how any changes to US research funding will impact Australia,” they said. “We look forward to working with US counterparts to demonstrate the benefits of collaborative research to both US and Australia’s interests.”
The National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) national president, Dr Alison Barnes, said the Australian government must guarantee researchers would be protected from “blatant foreign interference”.
“Donald Trump’s hateful agenda is racist, transphobic and misogynistic. The idea of research funding being tied to any of those values is sickening,” she said.
“Allowing Trump to dictate the terms of research will have devastating impacts on research including life-saving vaccines, critical social sciences and climate solutions that could save the planet – just to name a few.”
This week, the US administration cancelled 33 research grants investigating vaccine hesitancy and was conducting a review of mRNA vaccine projects.
Angel Calderon, a university rankings expert, said the defunding of US higher education institutions would have ramifications “everywhere” – restricting academic exchanges and PhD projects in addition to hindering progress on research.
He said Australian academics who had not received US funding were also being affected by the Trump administration’s cuts to higher education, which had temporarily prevented access to some US databases – particularly regarding DEI projects.
“Sooner or later we need to come to terms with all of this – who we want to partner with, and who we trust,” he said, pointing to Japan, Korea and Europe as viable markets.
“Projects run over multiple years – we need to think long term, strategically.”
