• ACADEMIC ENTANGLEMENTSA British University’s Technology Entanglements with Russia and China

    By Bethany Allen, Danielle Cave, and Adam Ziogas

    A major British research university’s joint venture campus in China maintains partnerships and close links with entities sanctioned by Britain, the US, EU and others for supporting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and assisting China’s military modernization and human rights violations. The links to sanctions highlight the risks posed by foreign science, technology and academic partnerships in China in a period of heightened geopolitical rivalry, intensifying technological competition and deepening China-Russia cooperation.

  • U.S. MANUFACTURINGMIT Announces the Initiative for New Manufacturing

    By Peter Dizikes

    The Institute-wide effort aims to bolster industry and create jobs by driving innovation across vital manufacturing sectors.

  • VOCATIONAL TRAININGApprentices Needed: Construction Shortages Threaten American Growth

    By Doug Irving

    U.S. plans for new factories, new tech hubs—even new homes—are about to crash into one very inconvenient fact: Not enough people work in construction to turn those plans into actual, hammer-and-nail reality. Not even close.

  • VOCATIONAL TRAININGVocational Training Can Play a Greater Role in National Security

    By Mark Costello

    We talk a lot about resilience and preparedness. But these goals aren’t met solely through top-down directives or university research hubs. They rely on a skilled workforce—one that’s ready to respond across sectors, jurisdictions and threat types. That workforce is increasingly trained not in lecture theatres, but in registered training organizations.

  • DEMOCRACY WATCHFeds Can’t Regulate “Ideological Diversity” at Schools Like Harvard

    By Walter Olson

    No civil rights law on the books requires “viewpoint diversity” in university admissions or hiring. No law of any sort entitles the federal government to reach into private universities to restructure their governance and disciplinary procedures or to require college brass to intervene to restructure named departments and schools. These are all things that the Trump administration is demanding of Harvard University on pain of massive peremptory cutoffs of funding for ongoing scientific research and other programs.

  • SCIENCE“America Can’t Be Great Without Great Science. That Is Where the Academies Can Help.”

    By Molly Galvin

    Recent actions by the federal government affecting agencies that fund science in the United States have sent shock waves through the research community. “My biggest concern is for the pipeline of talent: We might not have the educated students to meet the needs of the greater STEMM workforce…. I’m concerned that with the cuts in science budgets and the federal workforce, we will not see the same number of students being trained,” says the president of the  National Academy of Sciences.

  • EARTHQUAKESUS Earthquake Safety Relies on Federal Employees’ Expertise

    By Jonathan P. Stewart and Lucy Arendt

    Earthquakes and the damage they cause are apolitical. Collectively, we either prepare for future earthquakes or the population eventually pays the price. In the U.S., this preparation hinges in large part on the expertise of scientists and engineers in federal agencies who develop earthquake hazard models and contribute to the creation of building codes designed to ensure homes, high-rises and other structures won’t collapse when the ground shakes.

  • FOREIGN INFLUENCEForeign Influence in Higher Ed Addressed in Expanded Oversight Bill

    By Alan Wooten, The Center Square

    The DETERRENT Act is billed –and its acronym derived from –as “defending education transparency and ending rogue regimes engaging in nefarious transactions.” It aims to increase transparency and tighten  foreign gift reporting requirements for higher education institutions. The top three countries in giving in 2024 were Qatar ($342.8 million), China ($176.6 million) and Saudi Arabia ($175.2 million).

  • TECH WORKER SHORTAGEDebate Over H-1B Visas Shines Spotlight on U.S. Tech Worker Shortages

    By Moshe Y. Vardi

    The debate over H-1B overlooks some important questions: Why does the U.S. rely so heavily on foreign workers for the tech industry, and why is it not able to develop a homegrown tech workforce?

  • CHINA WATCHBill Introduced to Ban Student Visas to Chinese Nationals

    By Bethany Blankley, The Center Square

    U.S. Rep. Riley Moore, R-WV, filed a bill on Friday to ban Chinese nationals from receiving student visas. “Every year we allow nearly 300,000 Chinese nationals to come to the U.S. on student visas. We’ve literally invited the CCP to spy on our military, steal our intellectual property, and threaten national security,” he said.

  • CYBERSECURITY EDUCATIONUA Little Rock Secures $4.65 Million Grant to Advance Cybersecurity Education

    By Angelita Faller

    The grant, funded by the National Centers of Academic Excellence in Cybersecurity (NCAE-C) within the National Security Agency, will enable UA Little Rock to enhance its efforts in preparing high school teachers to teach cybersecurity.

  • CHINA WATCHU-M Ends Partnership with Chinese University

    By Elyse Apel, The Center Square

    The University of Michigan has announced it will end its Joint Institute with Chinese Shanghai Jiao Tong University, following growing concerns from lawmakers about national security.

  • SKILLED WORKFORCEBuilding the Skilled Technical Workforce: “I’s Very Much a Work in Progress”

    By Sara Frueh

    Skilled technical jobs —jobs that involve some technical knowledge — do not require a B.A. or a B.S., but almost always require some postsecondary training and education. These jobs probably make up about 5 to 10 percent of the labor force, but they are very important.

  • TRUTH DECAYDisinformation Course Draws on Area Studies Expertise

    What is disinformation, and how does it spread? A spring 2025 IU course, “Disinformation and the State in East Europe,” deals with these timely and important questions.

  • CYBERSECURITYUniversity of Central Florida Students Secure Gold at the DOE’s 10th CyberForce Competition

    By Jenna V. Wray

    Students gained hands-on practical cybersecurity experience and recognition by securing a wind energy generation plant against simulated cyberattacks.