NSF stops awarding new grants and funding existing ones | Hacker News Reader

NSF stops awarding new grants and funding existing ones

nature.com

112 pointsstrangeloops8511 comments

Between NIH grant-making being slowed down and this, there is no way to interpret these moves than being an underhanded way of causing university research infrastructure to collapse. Consider also, for example, that one Friday last month there was an announcement that indirect rates being cut to 15% for Dept. of Energy grants.. but only for universities, not companies or national labs!

Just from a steady state picture there is now significantly less funding flowing to America's research institutions and institutes. At some point buildings will be shut down, infrastructure mothballed and a generation of scientists will simply not be trained.

An adversary could not ask for a better outcome.

You have to question whether it’s a favor to a certain adversary. Or, you know, paying off a certain “obligation”

I don't think this is necessarily the right way to go about it, but there are deep issues with the incentives in the current US research system. As someone embedded in it, I would say it's highly dysfunctional and inefficient. Too much scientific fraud (hard and soft) and too many sinecures.

Our adversaries are happy either way.

What do you think the consequences of a shake-out like this will be? Asking as a prospective grad student nearing the end of my BS.

I've heard locally we're cutting graduate programs down and similarly from other institutions.

Definitely a recession in funding and opportunities.

> that indirect rates being cut to 15% for Dept. of Energy grants

I've got some bad news - NSF basically announced the same thing today

https://www.nsf.gov/policies/document/indirect-cost-rate

the "updates on priorities" page on NSF's web site is deeply dystopian: https://www.nsf.gov/updates-on-priorities

To be clear, I think what they are doing is dumb and malicious. Anti-DEI push is pretty much the only trump policy I agree with and I'm dismayed at its poor execution and massive unnecessary collateral damage.

However, I wonder, which parts of the statement do you consider "deeply dystopian"?

The lack of appeal possibility for people who get their grants rescinded (who in many cases may have hired students or postdocs based on having the grant approved).

> ...screen grant proposals for “topics or activities that may not be in alignment with agency priorities”

The only priorities the Trump administration has is in enforcing their myopic right-wing worldview and continuing their Manchurian Candidate destruction of our future by crippling science and education, and alienating the best and brightest people from around the world to make sure they don't come here to live and work, or leave as soon as possible.

We're going to be paying the price for this administration's actions for decades, if not for the rest of our country's existence.

(If you think this is too political for HN, or an over-reaction, remember that's what you said before the election as well. We weren't wrong then, and we're not wrong now.)

But we have AGI? We will have an intelligence super explosion by 2027 and a country of super geniuses just sitting around waiting for your command to "solve death" in 3 years after that. /s

Hopefully more forward thinking developed and developing countries can step up and resurrect the US model that made it so successful and lure top talent to their more welcoming shores.

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