Trump anti-DEI agenda prompts Horizon Europe demand

Alarmed by the impact the Trump administration’s anti-diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) agenda is having on research collaborations across the Pacific, Australia’s leading universities and the Australian Academy of Science are pressing for greater collaboration with Europe and seeking deeper bilateral ties in Asia.

Luke Sheehy, CEO of Universities Australia, the peak body representing Australia’s 39 public universities, told journalists on 19 March that in the forthcoming general election – now set to take place in May – he will be asking both sides of the political spectrum to commit to reviewing Australia’s decision last July not to join Horizon Europe, the European Union’s flagship research programme.

“The European Horizon programme is one of the biggest sources of funding for research on the planet right now. New Zealand is associated with it; the UK after Brexit is still working with it, and so are other like-minded countries. Australia has decided not to, and I think that’s a big mistake,” he said.

Sheehy was responding to questions about the impact of the US pulling federal funding out of existing research collaborations that ran counter to Trump’s political agenda of stamping out work on DEI, climate action and links to certain countries.

Vicki Thomson, chief executive of the Group of Eight (Go8) consortium of Australia’s leading research universities, has been strongly advocating for rethinking this decision in the light of the damage done by US funding cuts and constraints.

“I think there is an opportunity there. We have an opportunity to hook into the world’s largest research fund, which is in Europe: the Horizon Europe, it is a €95 billion (US$102.86 billion) fund [and] for inexplicable reasons successive governments in Australia have not come to the table [with the European partners],” she said in an interview with Australian public broadcaster ABC.

Sheehy described Horizon Europe as a “multi-billion global funding pool of research that even New Zealand has signed up to, yet the Australian government hasn’t yet signed up to it, and it is something that could really benefit Australia and is a much bigger and more stable source of funding for research in the world than potentially what we’ve seen now from the US”.

Researchers face questionnaire

Over the past couple of weeks, some frontline university representatives broke silence over a survey form sent by the US Office of Management and Budget and supported by the US CHIPS and Science Act which authorises certain research investments and National Science Foundation policies. In this 36-point questionnaire, the academics on joint research ventures worth millions of dollars with the US are asked questions such as:

• Can you confirm that your organisation has not received ANY funding from the People’s Republic of China (PRC), Russia, Cuba or Iran?

• Can you confirm that this is not a DEI [diversity, equity and inclusion] project or there are DEI elements of the project?

• Does this project take appropriate measures to protect women and to defend against gender ideology as defined in the below Executive Order?

• Can you confirm this is not a climate or “environmental justice” project or includes such elements?

Meanwhile, this week the Go8 led a delegation to Singapore and Japan to strengthen Australia’s relationship with key strategic partners.

Go8 Chair Professor Mark Scott AO, major general (retired) Paul Symon (former director general of the Australian Secret Intelligence Service) and lieutenant general (retired) Rick Burr (former chief of the army), co-chairs of the Go8 Defence and Security Committee, and deputy vice-chancellors from the Go8 universities met with government, industry and university counterparts in Singapore and Japan to discuss opportunities for research collaboration in critical areas, including national security, according to a statement from G08.

Scott said: “at a time when some of our partners are adopting protectionist economic policies and questioning research collaboration, it is imperative that we seek opportunities and strengthen engagement with like-minded regional neighbours”.

Recently the United States, the Go8’s single largest collaborative research partner globally, suspended or terminated research grants with six of our eight member universities in line with policy changes introduced by the Trump administration.

“We are living in a more contested and unpredictable environment, and engagement with partners like Singapore and Japan is key to our ongoing capacity to carry out critical research in areas of national priority,” Scott said.

Unprecedented ideological context

The attempt to grill recipients of US funding has been described by many as part of the Trump administration’s broader ban on all DEI policies, grants, and programmes within the US. Donald Trump issued Executive Orders banning federal funding on so-called ‘woke’ research shortly after taking charge as the US president back in January.

In Australia, at least eight leading institutions, namely Monash University, Australian National University (ANU) and the University of Melbourne, the University of Sydney, the University of New South Wales and the University of Western Australia have been impacted by the US severing research funding.

Thomson, chief executive of the Go8 consortium of universities, some of which have received the US survey, described it as a tip over to foreign interference.

“Australia is not immune when it comes to the assault on our research collaboration by the Trump administration”, she said.

Talking to ABC, she said: “When we do research with EU partners, there might be questions around our modern slavery provisions, there might be questions around our gender equality plans, but this is really going to an ideological context that we have never seen before.”

Researchers were given 48 hours to respond to the questionnaires, she noted.

Sheehy confirmed that at least seven Australian universities have been impacted, ranging from big metropolitan research universities like Monash University and the University of New South Wales, and also some regional universities like Charles Darwin University and the University of Technology Sydney.

In a statement, Sheehy said: “This is really alarming that Australia’s closest ally, someone who funds more than half a billion dollars of research in the Australian system seeking Australian expertise to benefit both countries, is putting all of that at risk.”

In a press statement, the G08 confirmed that the United States has suspended or terminated research grants with six of its eight member universities in line with policy changes introduced by the Trump administration.

According to the Australian Academy of Science, US government research funding involving Australian research organisations was AUS$386 million in 2024.

Thomson said that the US is Australia’s largest research partner, followed by the EU, while China is Australia’s fastest-growing research partner. The US is also the single largest collaborative research partner for the Go8.

Professor Chennupati Jagadish, president of the Australian Academy of Science, told ABC that US funding amounts to at least 43% of the overall funding issued through the Australian Research Council.

“It is really concerning in the sense that the US government agencies are asking questions to the researchers instead of reaching out to the institutions,” he said.

He warned against overreliance on one strategic partner.

In a statement posted on the academy’s website, he warned that the US is a vitally important alliance partner but unpredictable, and threats to Australia’s R&D capability should not be ignored.

He said there were short-medium, and long-term measures that should be taken and called on the Prime Minister to convene a special emergency meeting of the National Science and Technology Council, which he chairs, compelling all ministers to the table to comprehensively assess the extent of Australia’s exposure to US R&D investment in Australia so proactive risk mitigation strategies can be devised.

He called for the immediate capture of the exodus of smart minds from the US and to bring their capability and talent to Australia via a rapid talent attraction programme.

And for the medium to long term he called for the policy measures that expand the geographic footprint of Australia’s international R&D collaborations with responsible countries, regardless of the US administration’s actions.

“This includes associating with Horizon Europe – the largest research fund in the world; leveraging the framework of the successful Global Science and Technology Diplomacy Fund and extending it to more countries; and deepening the relationships with India and Japan nurtured via the Quad partnership [of Australia, India, Japan and the US],” he said.

Education Minister Jason Clare told ABC on 24 March 2025: “We understand that at least seven Australian universities have been affected by this, that they're conducting research that's either been suspended or stopped.”

“I’ve asked my department to work with those universities, get more information from other Australian universities about potential research that might be affected. The Australian Embassy in Washington is working with US departments to get a better understanding of this.

“ We expect that the outcomes of that review that the US has initiated will be clearer in the second half of April.”

He said that he did not think it was practical for the Australian government to step in to replace funding that is removed.

“This is US-funded research of US universities working with Australian universities. Ultimately, it’s up to the US … what research it wants to fund,” he noted.

High-level dialogue in Asia

Meanwhile, this week the Go8-led delegation’s programme in Singapore coincided with discussions for the agenda for the next ten years of the Australia-Singapore Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in which research and innovation are expected to play a greater role.

A Go8-Singapore research roundtable brought together university leaders, government and industry representatives from Singapore and Australia for discussions around fostering deeper research collaborations in areas of shared interest, including AI, climate change, energy transition, quantum computing, and biomedical sciences.

A high-level dialogue was held in Tokyo to discuss pathways to safeguard research collaboration. Japan is a trusted and long-standing research collaborator and is a key strategic partner in the Indo-Pacific.

“Go8 universities are committed to building stronger relationships with our close regional partners to minimise risk to our capacity to carry out collaborative lifesaving and nation-building research and to develop the expertise to find solutions to global challenges,” as a press statement from Go8 said.

The Australian government commissioned a strategic examination of its research and development (R&D) system last month.

An independent expert panel leads the examination to explore how Australia can encourage more homegrown ideas, more research, and more translation, with some experts suggesting plans to host more displaced US researchers forced to exit by Trump policies and potentially join Horizon Europe.