Science Insider took another look yesterday at the effects of the budget sequestration on research. After describing the potential harms of the NIH's recently announced 5 percent budget cut - "part of a larger pattern of declining funding over the past decade" - reporter Jocelyn Kaiser points out another troubling aspect of sequestration:
NIH leaders say that the sequester's most severe effect is the chilling message it sends to young scientists. In testimony last week, [NIH Director Francis Collins, MD, PhD,] quoted a former student who is finishing a Ph.D. at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She's seen her role models struggle with funding. "I can't erase the fear that this is my future," Collins quoted her writing.
"We're putting an entire generation of U.S. scientists at risk," Collins warned. "If they go away, they won't come back."
Previously: Sequestration hits the NIH – fewer new grants, smaller budgets, NIH director polls Twitter for real-world responses to budget cutbacks and As budget sequester nears, a call for Congress to protect funding for scientific and medical research
