close
Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

Biotech investor set to lead US National Science Foundation

If confirmed, Jim O’Neill would be the first non-scientist or non-engineer to lead the agency, which is a big funder of US basic research.
By
  1. Dan Garisto
  2. Max Kozlov
Save article
View saved research

US President Donald Trump plans to nominate biotechnology investor Jim O’Neill to be the next leader of the National Science Foundation (NSF), a White House spokesperson confirmed to Nature. The NSF, one of the largest funders of basic research in the United States, has been without a permanent leader since April last year, when director Sethuraman Panchanathan abruptly resigned as the Trump administration cut hundreds of the agency’s research grants and proposed a massive budget cut.

Access options

Access through your institution

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Nature 651, 14-15 (2026)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-026-00537-5

Updates & Corrections

  • Update 19 February 2026: This story was updated to include a comment from the NIH about Bhattacharya leading two agencies at once.

Subjects

Latest on:

Nature Careers

Jobs

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing