FACULTY & STAFF: ADD YOUR NAME BELOW TO THIS OPEN LETTER WRITTEN BY THE DEFENDING RESEARCH FUNDING WORKING GROUP OF THE PROFESSIONAL STAFF CONGRESS/CUNY
Federal investment in scientific research generates enormous benefits for our health, our global leadership in innovation, and our economy. As faculty members at the City University of New York (CUNY) and State University of New York (SUNY), we are deeply troubled by the numerous cuts and disruptions to science funding and the scientific workforce by the Trump administration in the past four months.
ABRUPT CUTS TO FUNDING ARE WASTEFUL AND DISRUPTIVE: Numerous grants that were awarded through highly competitive and rigorous grant review processes have been abruptly cancelled. These abrupt cuts endanger patient’s lives, research staff job stability, scientific and economic progress, and our nation’s standing in the world as a scientific and technological leader. They are also wasteful of taxpayer’s dollars, because funds invested in setting up projects that are prematurely terminated will not yield intended outcomes. When a laboratory is broken up by a funding cut off, the highly skilled staff and students leave, destroying partially completed research that may have taken years and tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars of investment to assemble. They cannot bring the work to a new location, as the instruments must remain behind, as must any experimental subjects if it is health research. Training grants for students and early career researchers have been especially targeted for cancellation, jeopardizing the pipeline of future STEM professionals. Some areas of research have been particularly targeted, including climate science, public health, and vaccine research.
SLOWDOWNS AND CUTS TO GRANT REVIEW AND DISBURSEMENT ARE CONCERNING: By law, all Congressionally appropriated funds must be spent by September 30. If they are not allocated by that time, they may be lost to the scientific enterprise permanently. This year, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has been awarding new and continuing grants at about half the pace of previous years. At the National Science Foundation (NSF), there is currently a complete halt to new and continuing grant awards. Many National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) grants have also been cut. Across the federal research agencies, the administration is also attempting to set an arbitrary 15% cap on indirect cost reimbursements, leaving institutions without adequate funds to cover the overhead that makes research possible and safe.
FEDERAL INVESTMENTS IN RESEARCH PRODUCE HUGE ECONOMIC BENEFITS, INCLUDING IN NEW YORK STATE: Federal investment in scientific research yields enormous benefits for NY state. It is estimated that for every dollar invested in scientific research, $2.56 in economic activity is generated. In NY state alone, this amounts to $8.27 billion in economic activity and 30,522 jobs! A new study by economists has estimated that a 25% cut to science funding would lead to a 3.8% decline in GDP, similar to that seen in the Great Recession.
TRAINING STEM STUDENTS REQUIRES HANDS-ON RESEARCH: As educators, we are acutely aware that training STEM students depends on our ability to provide hands-on research experiences. Without grant funding, these experiences will be lost. Furthermore, in another devastating twist, in order to accept grant awards, we are being required to affirm that we will not engage in “DEI” or “DEIA” activities. New York's public universities exist to serve our communities, and act as vehicles to provide upward mobility for disadvantaged students. To meet the needs of our students, we must seek diverse perspectives, foster equitable and inclusive classrooms and workspaces, and make learning accessible to all.
CUTS TO SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH WILL SHORTEN AMERICAN LIVES AND REDUCE QUALITY OF LIFE: The cuts to science are compounded by cuts to monitoring of air pollution, water pollution, food inspection, and weather monitoring, among other things. All of these require technical expertise to ensure that our nation is prepared for new threats, such as new pandemics, and new weather formations. When we have lost our scientific capabilities we will have no answer for the inevitable occurrence of a “rare” event like a pandemic, or less rare events like enlarged hurricanes. Without the science to monitor, and respond, to these threats, we are flying blind. We will be sick, and die younger; our children will live even sicker, shorter, lives. At the same time, threats to Medicare and Medicaid reduce our ability to care for those afflicted from childhood diseases through eldercare. A strong scientific research infrastructure is essential to combat infectious diseases and to inform the prevention and treatment of chronic conditions, including Alzheimer’s disease, helping improve life expectancy and quality of life across the lifespan.
THE EFFECTS OF CUTTING AMERICAN RESEARCH CANNOT BE REPAIRED FOR GENERATIONS: The United States is the envy of the world when it comes to STEM, attracting massive human and financial investment. Defunding research completely undermines this endeavor and opens the door for other nations, such as China, to replace the United States as leaders in scientific innovation and to outpace us in terms of human health outcomes, economic performance and more. Once funds are withdrawn and people are let go, reversing course is no simple matter, and the ramifications of these attacks on scholarly inquiry will be felt for generations.
It is imperative that our Congressional representatives insist that appropriated funds be disbursed as intended in the current fiscal year. The administration’s cuts are arbitrary and capricious, and challenge Congressional authority over spending. To safeguard the scientific enterprise going forward, our representatives must resist severe cuts that will prevent future therapies and innovations.
