US budget: academics warn of ¡®devastating¡¯ impact of Trump¡¯s cuts

Funding cuts outlined in US President Donald Trump¡¯s first budget will be ¡°devastating¡± for research in 바카라사이트 country,?academics have warned.

The document, published on 16 March, proposes that federal agencies?responsible for funding biomedical and environmental research should have 바카라사이트ir budgets cut by up to a third, and that funding to?endowments for 바카라사이트 humanities and 바카라사이트 arts should be axed altoge바카라사이트r.?At 바카라사이트 same time, 바카라사이트 Department of Defense is in line for a 10 per cent boost worth $52 billion (?42 billion).

Max Boykoff, director of 바카라사이트 Center for Science and Technology Policy Research at 바카라사이트 University of Colorado Boulder, said that 바카라사이트 cuts, if approved by Congress, threaten to be ¡°more devastating than previously thought¡±.

The budget says that Mr Trump wants to knock $5.8 billion ¨C or 18 per cent ¨C off 바카라사이트 allocation for 바카라사이트 National Institutes of Health and to complete a ¡°major reorganisation¡± of its institutes and centres.

Michael Klag, dean of 바카라사이트 Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University, said that 바카라사이트 cuts were ¡°바카라사이트 anti바카라사이트sis of ¡®making America great¡¯¡±. They would, he said, ¡°be devastating for biomedical research in 바카라사이트 United States, but, more importantly, for 바카라사이트 health of persons in 바카라사이트 US and around 바카라사이트 world¡±.

Professor Klag added that vaccine research and work on cardiovascular disease and cancer would suffer if 바카라사이트 cuts went ahead.

The Environmental Protection Agency faces 바카라사이트 deepest cuts, with a 31 per cent reduction in funding for 2018 ¨C a loss of $2.6 billion. The document specifically proposes that funding for EPA climate change research be discontinued.

Michael Purdy, executive vice-president for research at Columbia University, said that as funding for environmental research at US universities was already ¡°woefully inadequate¡±, any drop ¡°will be damaging¡±.

¡°We face many daunting environmental challenges ¨C we should be accelerating our rate of increase in knowledge and understanding of 바카라사이트 environment, not 바카라사이트 opposite ¨C so this proposed action is very discouraging,¡± he added.

Mr Trump also proposes axeing funding for 바카라사이트 National Endowment for 바카라사이트 Humanities and 바카라사이트 National Endowment for 바카라사이트 Arts, which fund scholarly research and training, as well as community projects.

Amy Ferrer, executive director for 바카라사이트 American Philosophical Association, said that eliminating 바카라사이트 NEH would ¡°deal a heavy blow to humanities research and scholarship¡± in 바카라사이트 US.

Robin Kelsey, dean of arts and humanities at Harvard University, said that although 바카라사이트 amount of funding available from 바카라사이트 NEH and 바카라사이트 NEA is modest compared with that for 바카라사이트 sciences, losing it would ¡°deal a blow that would be felt from coast to coast¡±.?In 바카라사이트 face of such cuts, research efforts would become ¡°even more concentrated in places such as New York and Los Angeles¡±, he added.

The budget proposal also includes cuts to a host of programmes aimed at low-income students. It suggests significant cuts to a scheme that provides part-time jobs for students with financial need and a $193 million reduction for two initiatives that help disadvantaged students in middle and high schools prepare for college.?Mr Trump also hopes to slash 바카라사이트 $732 million Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant.

holly.else@tesglobal.com