The Trump administration has cancelled many existing science grants and it’s proposing large budget cuts to science funding foundations like the National Institutes of Health.
That’s why hundreds of people at UC San Diego on Friday attended what they called a “Stand Up for Science” protest.
Protesters talked about the importance of science funding to the San Diego economy and to the progress of medicine. In fact, they said, federal cuts have already had a big impact on the university.
“At UC San Diego as of May 30th, there have been more than 150 federal grants terminated, resulting in a loss of $30 million,” said Lisa Eyler, a professor of psychiatry at UCSD.
One postdoctoral student at the rally said his grant was cancelled, and the justification was his research was related to diversity and inclusion programs.
He said it was not.
“I don’t do research in any of that domain and honestly, even if I did, so what? My research centers on neurobiology and autism in both patients and animal models,” Christian Cazares said.
Biology professor emeritus Stanley Maloy, from San Diego State, spoke of how university research has led to technology we depend on.
“It’s the curiosity-driven research, the research that’s coming from universities across the country, that leads to these discoveries that change our lives,” Maloy said. “We heard some examples earlier. But GPS. We use GPS every day just to walk across campus or drive across town.”
The Trump administration’s budget proposes a 50% cut for the National Science Foundation and a 37% cut to the National Institutes of Health.
