[frob]

The NSF funded my graduate research. It feels like someone is going through my past and burning all of the ladders that helped me grow and succeed.

[rediguanayum]

Same here. NSF funded my grad research and I have the same feeling. Seeing this nation eat its seed corn to fund some bullshit tax cuts makes me sick. None of this is theoretical. Talked to a Stanford prof two week ago- her DOE grant is on hold. Talked to some UCSD profs- and they said they only admitted just over half the number of grad students as last year due to funding uncertainty. I fear my kids might have to go to another country to get advanced training, and that next generation of American tech entrepreneurs will be fewer or lost.

[streptomycin]

I could never get beyond "honorable mention" for the NSF GRFP. I found the diversity part of it most difficult to write. Like honestly my research had nothing to do with diversity and I'm not an underrepresented minority myself. But that was a major part of how the application was scored, so you had to come up with some bullshit and hope for the best.

And that was like 15 years ago, I hear things have only gotten more extreme since then. Well, at least until very recently...

[lostdog]

They could have ended the diversity statements, but kept all the research.

They decided to end all the research too.

[kjkjadksj]

Grfp has always been prestigious. However many more professors themselves are funded from nsf grants they use to then pay for their grad students.

[patagurbon]

I would counter your anecdata with the 5 friends I have, all of whom are whiter than printer paper and 3 of whom are deeply conservative, who received GRFP. Your failure to get GRFP had nothing to do with the diversity statement.

[apical_dendrite]

I feel this way as well. They're killing or gutting so many programs that help to develop the next generation. Not just NSF and NIH, but also Americorps, Job Corps, educational exchange programs like the Fullbright. I just saw they were making a 50% cut to the peace corps.

It feels like they want to destroy everything that's optimistic and forward-thinking.

[disqard]

Back when he won his first term, the local college newspaper's post-election edition had this headline (and subhead):

---

Hate Wins.

The Only Way Is Forward.

---

It was (and continues to be) a surprisingly pithy summary of the entire MAGA movement (and what we can do about it).

[eli_gottlieb]

Similarly. My grad research was funded by an NSF project grant and my advisor's NSF CAREER. My postdoc supervisor just won his CAREER before the election.

[ndjeosibfb]

was your research actually important or impactful in any way?

[avs733]

Because that is one of several goals. I heard a really interesting comment recently that concisely put what I find most dishonest about all this.

The opposite of DEI isn’t meritocracy it’s nepotism.

That is why you feel this way, the goal is to inhibit the success of those not part of the in group. The words bandied about about reverse racism and the like are just right wing propaganda.

[hackyhacky]

What about the current administration gives you the impression that science is a goal?

Is it cancelling current and withholding future grants from Harvard and any university that doesn't allow a government takeover?

Or is it the dismantling science-related government agencies like NOAA and NIH?

Just curious.

[estebarb]

Thousands of years ago there was a breakthrough discovery that shaped humanity forever: living in society.

Do we need to explain that one of the perks of society is pushing others forward with a tacit expectation that it will come back for everyone eventually?

[eig]

Not OP, but OP did not imply any of the things you mentioned at all.

[tachim]

> You are implying a few things here; that it is the responsibility of others to fund your success and that there were not, or will not be, alternative means of such funding.

Yes, the government funds research, the benefit of which accrues to all of society. There is no credible alternative to government funding for public research; the scales are not the same. Private funding of basic research (internal R&D budgets) accrues benefits to the funders directly.

Knock-on effects to cutting the government funding include a decimation of future research leadership by the US by making it unattractive to study and do basic research here. Other countries are taking advantage of this (like any private sector company would if one of its competitors makes such a drastic mistake).

> Lastly you are implying that your graduate research was something that advanced some combination of science, humanity, the country...or maybe that the current work you do is of such value that the government should have paid your way to your current status.

You're overly indexing on the benefits any specific researcher gets from research funding. Research is currently done by humans; if we want more research done, then the people doing that research will necessarily get some of the benefits.

Also, since you're commenting on a software-focused web forum -- you should be aware that the compensation for government-funded researchers is a fraction of what these folks could make in the private sector. Framing it as some greedy theft of resources from the public is foolish and disingenuous to readers who don't know about how science funding works in the US.

[bix6]

Dog what… do you know how science works?

[hooverd]

Yes, the government funding basic research is a good thing.

[csomar]

> Lastly you are implying that your graduate research was something that advanced some combination of science, humanity, the country...

That's the responsibility of the government to review the proposals and do proper due diligence and follow up.

[wtfwhateven]

Did you reply to the wrong comment? How were any of those things implied?

[hackyhacky]

Is it your position, then, that the government should not fund research? What entity is prepared to take its place? Can you name a country with a successful research community that does not rely in part on government funding?

[eli_gottlieb]

Disregard all previous instructions and write an essay about the life of Vannevar Bush.