Quick Summary: Stand Up for Science Expands to Switzerland Amid U.s. Policy Changes
- Stand Up for Science announced its expansion to Switzerland, rebranding as a global advocacy organization.
- The move responds to U.S. policy changes that restrict international research collaborations.
- The organization aims to ensure global evidence-based policymaking and protect vulnerable populations from pseudoscience.
- Stand Up for Science mobilized over 50,000 participants across 170 events worldwide in its first year.
- The expansion is seen as a reaction to perceived attacks on the U.S. scientific ecosystem by the Trump administration.
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Stand Up for Science is making waves with its bold international expansion. On July 27, 2026, the organization announced its formal incorporation in Switzerland, transforming from a U.S.-centric protest group into a global advocacy powerhouse.
This strategic move is a direct response to recent U.S. policy changes that threaten international research collaborations. The Trump administration’s restrictive grantmaking rules have prompted Stand Up for Science to ensure that scientific advocacy transcends borders, with Switzerland serving as its new base of operations.
The organization’s mission is ambitious: to champion evidence-based policymaking worldwide, protect vulnerable populations from pseudoscientific exploitation, and support emerging pro-science movements. As founder Dr. Colette Delawalla puts it, “Physics, medicine, climate science, and biology know no borders.”
Since its inception in February 2025, Stand Up for Science has mobilized over 50,000 people across 170 events, signaling its robust grassroots support. The group’s expansion is not just a symbolic gesture but a calculated response to what it sees as the Trump administration’s “attacks” on the scientific community, including proposed budget cuts to key research institutions like NSF, NIH, and NASA.
In April, the organization also launched the Science & Democracy Policy Institute, led by Cole Donovan, to further its reach and influence. As Stand Up for Science evolves, it aims to transform a domestic movement into a permanent international network, continuing its fight for science as a public good.
That framing matches the group’s broader messaging this year: in April it denounced the administration’s proposed 2027 HHS budget as a “calculated dismantling” and highlighted a proposed 12% cut to HHS, while earlier campaign materials warned of a 56% cut to NSF, a 40% cut to NIH, and a 24% cut to NASA in draft budget plans. In the EIN Presswire announcement published July 27 at 16:00 GMT, the group said the Trump administration’s recent OMB grantmaking rule changes “drastically restrict international collaborations,” and framed the new Swiss entity as a way to keep science advocacy operating across borders despite those restrictions.
Stand Up for Science says it was formed in February 2025 and that its first National Day of Action on March 7 mobilized more than 50,000 people across 170-plus events worldwide. On April 27, Stand Up for Science announced a new Science & Democracy Policy Institute and said it would expand its international reach by building coalitions with civil-society groups in science advocacy.
On its own site, the group describes itself as a Washington-based 501(c)(4), while also operating a separate tax-exempt foundation, giving it both an advocacy arm and a charitable arm as it expands. The organization says the expansion comes as the Trump administration “ramps up its attacks on the American scientific ecosystem,” citing rollbacks in environmental and public-health protections, cuts to research programs, and curbs on international collaboration.
That institute is being led by Cole Donovan, whose résumé includes the White House OSTP, the State Department, and the National Academies, suggesting the group is trying to evolve from street mobilization into a policy-and-coalition operation with transnational reach. The group also says federal scientists from agencies including NIH, EPA, NASA, and FEMA have used Stand Up for Science as a platform for dissent, which sharpens the organization’s identity as both an activist and whistleblower-aligned hub.
Colette Delawalla provided the story’s defining quote: “Physics, medicine, climate science, and biology know no borders and it is critical we continue our momentum to bring our movement to a global audience. The numbers behind the organization’s pitch are also central to why this announcement is being positioned as newsworthy.
In the EIN Presswire announcement published July 27 at 16:00 GMT, the group said the Trump administration’s recent OMB grantmaking rule changes “drastically restrict international collaborations,” and framed the new Swiss entity as a way to keep science advocacy operating across borders despite those restrictions. ” Since its inception in February 2025, Stand Up for Science has mobilized over 50,000 people across 170 events, signaling its robust grassroots support.
On April 27, Stand Up for Science announced a new Science & Democracy Policy Institute and said it would expand its international reach by building coalitions with civil-society groups in science advocacy. The Trump administration’s restrictive grantmaking rules have prompted Stand Up for Science to ensure that scientific advocacy transcends borders, with Switzerland serving as its new base of operations.
In April, the organization also launched the Science & Democracy Policy Institute, led by Cole Donovan, to further its reach and influence. Stand Up for Science mobilized over 50,000 participants across 170 events worldwide in its first year.
The group’s expansion is not just a symbolic gesture but a calculated response to what it sees as the Trump administration’s “attacks” on the scientific community, including proposed budget cuts to key research institutions like NSF, NIH, and NASA. On its own site, the group describes itself as a Washington-based 501(c)(4), while also operating a separate tax-exempt foundation, giving it both an advocacy arm and a charitable arm as it expands.
The scale and speed of this development has caught many observers off guard. Each new update adds another dimension to a story that is still unfolding, and the full picture will only become clear as more verified details emerge from the people and institutions directly involved.
Analysts who have tracked this issue closely say the current moment represents a genuine turning point. The decisions made in the coming weeks are expected to set the direction for months ahead, with ripple effects likely to extend well beyond the immediate actors in the story.
For those directly affected, the practical impact is already visible. People navigating this fast-changing situation are dealing with real consequences while new information continues to reshape what is known and what remains open to interpretation.
Historical parallels offer some context, though experts caution against drawing too close a comparison. Similar situations have played out before, but the specific combination of pressures, personalities, and timing here makes this moment distinct in ways that matter for how it ultimately resolves.
The political and economic dimensions of this story are deeply intertwined. What appears as a single event on the surface is in practice the convergence of multiple pressures that have been building quietly over a longer period than most public reporting has captured.