The U.S. government plans to pursue a "mass deferment" of job placement deadlines for a cornerstone program for training and placing student talent into government cybersecurity positions, aiming to give affected students a temporary reprieve from requirements that would have sent many of them into debt. The CyberCorps: Scholarship for Service program provides college tuition and a stipend to awardees, who, in return, commit to working in a government cybersecurity role upon graduation.
A US court has cleared the way for the National Science Foundation to press ahead with the cancellation of more than 1,700 research grants worth upwards of $1 billion. The ruling, handed down this week by Judge Jia Cobb of the DC District Court, rejects a request from researchers, universities and scientific societies to reinstate the cancelled grants while the case is heard. The plaintiffs had argued that NSF's mass terminations were arbitrary, unlawful and would do irreparable harm to the country's research ecosystem.
"Federal small business research grants awarded by NSF are designed to support and foster innovative research by small businesses, not to provide taxpayer funding for businesses primarily owned by venture capital firms."
