Australian universities are crying foul after the Trump administration asks questions that put $386 million in research grants in jeopardy. The bone of contention was a questionnaire sent to Australian grant recipients asking if the institution had “ties to communist or socialist parties, receive funding from China and it only recognises male and female sexes.”
The grants were frozen in January, shortly after President Trump was inaugurated, but were unfrozen at some time thereafter. This new round of questions is the second time the universities were queried, but this time, it has their attention.
Seven days after the Trump administration assumed office, one of Australia’s Group of Eight universities was notified that US funding for a project had been paused.
“This is really concerning and the thin end of the wedge in terms of where it potentially could…
