OSTP Director Releases Landmark Report and Recommendations for Renewing American Scientific Discovery

This announcement introduces a major shift in United States science policy, titled "Science: A New Golden Age." Led by Michael Kratsios (OSTP) and Russ Vought (OMB), the report is framed as the first comprehensive overhaul of the American R&D framework since the end of World War II.The initiative seeks to move away from the "legacy" bureaucratic models established in 1945 and transition to a faster, AI-driven, and mission-oriented scientific enterprise.The report argues that current scientific funding is too slow and consensus-driven. Proposed changes include:Funding Individuals, Not Institutions: Shifting support directly to scientists to reduce administrative overhead.X-Labs & ARPA Models: Creating agile, high-risk/high-reward research organizations.Metascience: Establishing units to study the "science of science" to improve how research is conducted and funded.The administration is setting "moonshot" goals to ensure the U.S. leads in emerging fields:Energy: Demonstrating commercial fusion power by the mid-2030s.Space: Returning humans to the moon and establishing a lunar base.Computing: Developing Quantum Computers (QC-ADDS) and next-gen semiconductors.A central focus of the report is using Artificial Intelligence to accelerate the speed of discovery itself.AI-Native Institutions: Moving toward laboratories that are designed for machine-augmented research.Foundation Models: Creating AI models specifically trained on scientific datasets to predict new materials, drugs, and physical phenomena.Autonomous Labs: Investing in "self-driving" laboratories that can conduct experiments without constant human intervention.The report seeks to bridge the gap between high-level research and the blue-collar workforce:Apprenticeships: Integrating technical training into STEM education.Regional Clusters: Linking research universities directly with local advanced manufacturing to ensure that when a discovery is made in the U.S., it is manufactured in the U.S.Unlike many government reports that remain theoretical, this one is tied directly to the FY2028 Budget.90-Day Deadline: Federal agencies (like the NIH, NSF, and NASA) must submit action plans within three months.Budgetary Alignment: Agencies must incorporate these priorities into their funding requests to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).The report explicitly references Vannevar Bush’s 1945 report, Science: The Endless Frontier. Bush’s report created the modern system of government-funded university research (like the National Science Foundation). By positioning this new report as its successor, the administration is signaling a fundamental desire to "reset" how American science has operated for the last 80 years, prioritizing speed, AI integration, and national security over traditional peer-review bureaucracy.The Four Strategic Pillars1. Institutional Reform (Moving Beyond "Legacy" Systems)2. National Missions for Technical Dominance3. The "Genesis Mission" (AI for Science)4. Expanding the "STEM" PipelineAdministrative "Teeth"Historical Context