The National Science Foundation is tightening access to new research awards for a small set of highly selective universities. According to reports citing internal agency documents, NSF placed a hold on future grants to Duke, Harvard, Princeton, and Yale, limiting new allocations and pausing dozens of proposals. Nature reported that as of April 9, the institutions received a steep drop in new NSF grants this fiscal year compared with 2024, including no new awards to Duke or Harvard since the hold. Proposals also sat substantially longer than NSF’s typical Office of Award Management finalization timeline. The move further intensifies uncertainty for research-heavy universities and for principal investigators whose projects depend on predictable federal award processing.