Educate Congress and federal agencies
We inform policymakers on research funding, scientific advances, and science education by bringing the expertise of working scientists directly to the people who write the budget and set the rules.
Our work
What we do
The Coalition for the Life Sciences leverages the expertise, credibility, and relationships of organizational leaders to educate Congress and federal agencies and build support for evidence-based science policy.
Speak with one coalition voice
We recommend policies that keep the U.S. a leading contributor to global research, joining societies across the life sciences behind shared positions on appropriations and policy.
Convene the community
We bring diverse stakeholders together for candid, cross-field discussion, and share platforms and tools that advance member policy goals.
Equip scientists to advocate
We give researchers the tools, language, and timing to make the case for fundamental research in their own words.
Policy priorities
What we are working on
Sustained federal funding
Predictable, inflation-adjusted appropriations for the NIH, NSF, DOE, USDA, and the agencies that make discovery science possible.
Science in policymaking
Ensuring that legislation and regulation affecting research are informed by working scientists and the evidence itself.
The research workforce
Support for graduate students, postdocs, and early-career investigators so that careers in science remain viable.
Open, rigorous research
Policies that protect scientific integrity, data sharing, and the freedom to pursue fundamental questions.
What it adds up to
Drafted and promoted a multi-year funding provision
CLS drafted and promoted the multi-year limitation provision in the FY26 NIH bill, a concrete win for predictable federal research funding.
Hill Days
Board members from every member organization come to Washington to meet congressional offices and make the case for research face to face.
The Life Science Fair
Each summer, CLS members bring real, hands-on demonstrations of science to Capitol Hill for the staff who shape science policy.
Make your voice heard — five minutes a week is enough to help.