WH proposes rules giving political appointees final approval on research grants
#HackerNews #WHrules #politicalappointees #researchgrants #policychange #sciencefunding
Big Picture Science for May. 11, Preventing Future Pandemics
We may not want to think about another pandemic, but, as epidemiologists say, it is once again a “when,” not “if,” scenario. For his latest book, journalist Jon Cohen, who has written extensively about infectious disease for the magazine Science, interviewed top epidemiologists around the world and followed virus hunters into damp and daunting bat caves to assess our pandemic preparedness readiness. Jon and Molly sit down before an audience in Los Angeles to talk about worrisome cuts to science funding and our ability (or inability) to be vigilant and respond quickly to emerging disease. There is good news: we know how to stop outbreaks. The question is, will we put our tools and vast knowledge to use?
Guest:
* Jon Cohen – senior correspondent with Science Magazine, author of “Planning Miracles: How to Prevent Future Pandemics”
Reading: The Trump Administration is Dismantling Efforts to Fight the Next Pandemic
Download podcast at - https://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/preventing-future-pandemics
You can listen to this and other episodes at http://bigpicturescience.org/
Get early access to ad-free versions of every episode by joining us on Patreon. Thanks for your support!
#PandemicPreparedness #GlobalHealth #Epidemiology #PublicHealth #InfectiousDisease #VirusHunters #ScienceFunding #PathogenResearch #BigPictureScience #SETI #News #Podcast #Science
Trump fires independent board overseeing National Science Foundation
All 22 board members have been sent termination letters, one week prior to this year's in-person meeting and a state of US Science report to be published.
Trump has tried to reduce science funding in the US by $9 Billion and further impacted it through the dismantling of important organisations and agencies
#StateOfScience #TrumpRegime #ScienceFunding
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/apr/28/trump-fires-national-science-foundation-board
China is set to become the world’s largest public funder of research within two years, as US investment stalls.
This shift could reshape the global scientific landscape.
🔗 https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-00618-5
#ScienceFunding #ChinaResearch #GlobalScience #researchpolicy #sciencetrends
How NOT to do a NASA Budget Proposal - OR This Will Not Fly (pun intended!)
- cut and paste last year's rejected proposal
- include errors like ending programs that had already been cancelled
- including the wrong fiscal year for existing on-going program funding
- limited program cost breakdowns
- no comparisons to previous years' funding levels
- cancelling joint missions with other countries
This crap is an attempt at obfuscation. https://www.space.com/astronomy/nasa-science-faces-very-serious-threat-from-new-white-house-budget-scientists-say #NASA #Space #Funding #ScienceFunding #Budget #NASABudget #SpaceScience #Artemis
Reforms of science funding in the UK aim to “do fewer things better”.
Clearer priorities could strengthen impact, but uncertain timelines and budget shifts may slow research momentum, especially for early-career scientists.
🔗 https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-00447-6
#ScienceFunding #ResearchPolicy #UK #EarlyCareer #ResearchEcosystem
That Letter from UKRI
I only have time for a quick post today but I think it’s important to comment on the very feeble open letter circulated (yesterday) to “the research and innovation community” by the Chief Executioner Executive of UKRI. I think it’s feeble because it seems to have been intended to clarify what is going on, but does nothing of the sort. In fact, to me, it reads like it was written by someone who doesn’t know what he is doing.
The letter basically tells researchers working in areas outside the STFC remit (i.e. in anything except particle physics, astronomy and nuclear physics) not to worry because it’s only STFC that will suffer. This is the “explanation”:
In order to remain sustainable, STFC must make significant cumulative savings: a decrease of £162 million relative to our forecasts for their operational costs. The £162 million is the total net reduction in STFC’s annual costs that they must achieve by the end of the 2029 and 2030 financial year. It is not a £162 million saving in each year of the current SR period. Instead, STFC needs to reshape its cost base over the whole SR period so that their budget is balanced by 2029 and 2030 and key facilities are funded properly and sustainably.
That is not the situation at other councils and we do not anticipate equivalent measures will be necessary outside of STFC.
One of the problems with this logic is that a huge slice of STFC’s budget is spent on facilities that support science outside STFC’s scientific remit. The Diamond Light Source, for example, which has annual running costs of almost £70 million caters largely to the EPSRC and BBSRC communities. It makes no sense to me to require particle physics, astronomy and nuclear physics reseachers to bear the entire consequences of cost overruns at this facility when other communities benefit from it.
I’m sure the UKRI Chief Executive knows this, so it must have been a deliberate decision to wield the axe in this way. In other words it’s a conscious downgrade of particle physics, astronomy and nuclear physics. In the new regime, these are less important than any other branch of scientific research.
I’m out of it now, but I always felt that STFC should never have been set up as a research council. It should have been a service organisation, as its title – the Science and Technology Facilities Council – suggests. When STFC was created, back in 2007, funding for particle physics, astronomy and nuclear physics research as opposed to facilities should have been administered by EPSRC. Whether intentionally or not, the current arrangements make these areas of fundamental physics exceptionally vulnerable. We saw the consequences of that back in 2007/8 and it is happening again.
📢𝗣𝗜𝘀 & 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗮 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗼𝗰𝗲𝗮𝗻 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵!
Apply to the #BelmontForum for funding to advance ocean biodiversity & ecosystems
📅05 Mar 2026
🏷️Know someone that should apply? Like or share
🔗 https://rxn.mbp-rnc.com/25adm?utm_source=Mastodon&custom_day=Thursday
#ResearchFunding
#FundingOpportunity
#ScienceFunding
#ResearchSupport
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