By Emma Spiro
Center for an Informed Public
University of Washington
Amid a volatile period of significant uncertainty, we finished another academic year here at the University of Washington, and I wrapped up my first 10 months as the Center for an Informed Public’s faculty director. These last few weeks and months have seen a relentless stream of distressing news, including grant funding terminations from federal agencies critical to supporting scientific research and innovation. Terminations at the National Science Foundation (NSF) have directly targeted research on misinformation.
At the CIP, we’re not immune, but I want to underscore an important point: We’re not going anywhere. The CIP’s vital research studying false and misleading information and our mission to support a more informed public continues thanks to your support.
Since the CIP’s launch in 2019, approximately 40% of our funding has come from competitive federal research grants — proposals that underwent rigorous review by experts across the field. Funding cuts at NSF and the Institute of Museum and Library Services in particular have had immediate and long-term impacts on more than a dozen CIP faculty, postdoctoral scholars, graduate students, other researchers and staff in a variety of ways. The loss of federal funding has disrupted community-focused research and educational collaborations that we’ve built up over years, including many here in Washington, spanning our state from Asotin County to Whatcom County. My colleagues at the UW Information School and elsewhere across UW’s research footprint have also seen their research upended by these and other decisions.
Without federal funding, the CIP and peer research centers nationwide lose the ability and capacity to conduct essential research on false and misleading information. We lose the chance to develop real-world solutions that protect and promote productive civic discourse. We lose the opportunity to train the next generation of students and scholars in the field. What will result is a less trustworthy information landscape — one that is open to foreign interference and manipulation — and an even more vulnerable democracy. Our country’s reputation as a world leader in science and education is also at stake.
Despite these losses, now is the time to lean in. As I recently wrote in Science Advances with co-editors Ethan Porter (George Washington University) and Aaron Shaw (Northwestern University), “We applaud the universities, foundations, and private funders that have stepped forward to fund canceled projects. We hope that more will do so as a result of this editorial. However, even with these private efforts, it is hard to replace the massively successful science and innovation engine that has been built and fueled by NSF.”
Among the messages we’ve recently received from concerned citizens and community members, there’s been a common theme: People want to know what they can do to help push back on these destructive federal decisions, support science and sustain vital academic research.
For those who are in a position to provide financial support, if there ever was a time to step up to protect important scientific research and progress — especially projects that support junior scholars and the pipeline to foster future generations of scientists — now is the time. Support from private philanthropies and individual donors, like you, make it possible for the CIP to weather this storm. We encourage you to donate what you can to the CIP or the University of Washington at large.
Amid the ongoing uncertainty, I encourage you to stay tuned in, be informed, connect with communities that are important to you, and speak out about the ongoing federal funding cuts with friends, families, colleagues, community stakeholders, elected officials and policymakers.
- Learn more about how UW’s research makes our communities healthier, safer and more prosperous.
- Emma Spiro, a University of Washington Information School associate professor, is the faculty director and co-founder of the University of Washington’s Center for an Informed Public.
- To support the Center for an Informed Public’s work, you can make a direct donation here.
- Photo at top: Members of the Center for an Informed Public’s election rumor research team meet in October 2024. (Photo by Michael Grass / Center for an Informed Public)
