Home - ScienceWorks University research building a better America /press-releases/ Mon, 28 Mar 2016 16:14:40 +0000 Joomla! 1.5 - Open Source Content Management en-gb Seven Months of Sequestration Already Eroding America's Research Capabilities /press-releases/seven-months-of-sequestration-already-eroding-america-s-research-capabilities /press-releases/seven-months-of-sequestration-already-eroding-america-s-research-capabilities FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                NOVEMBER 11, 2013
                  


SEVEN MONTHS OF SEQUESTRATION ALREADY ERODING AMERICA’S RESEARCH CAPABILITIES

Fewer Grants, Cancelled Projects, Staff Reductions and Reduced Learning Opportunities Among Outcomes Identified in New Survey of Research Universities


WASHINGTON, DC – As congressional budget leaders continue negotiations over Fiscal Year 2014 spending levels, three organizations representing the nation’s leading public and private research universities today released the results of a new survey looking at sequestration’s impact on research across the country.  The survey is a bellwether of the devastating impact that sustained cuts to research and higher education will have on the economy and the United States’ role as a global innovation leader.  

The Association of American Universities (AAU), the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) and The Science Coalition (TSC), which collectively represent nearly 300 higher education institutions nationwide, including 171 research universities, conducted the survey and released it at a press conference at the APLU Annual Meeting in Washington, DC.

“Sequestration is a blunt and reckless tool that has chipped away at the core role our institutions play for the country in conducting critical research that leads to next generation, technological breakthroughs.  Even in its earliest phase, sequestration is permeating every aspect of the work that our research universities do,” said APLU President Peter McPherson. “These effects have occurred despite the efforts of our institutions to bridge the gap and cover some of the losses resulting from reduced or delayed grants.  These efforts can cushion the blow only so long.  The survey trends today will worsen and then be deeply entrenched a year from now if sequestration remains in place.”

“If Congress fails to reverse course and doesn’t begin to value investments in research and higher education, then the innovation deficit this country is facing will worsen as our foreign competitors continue to seize on this nation’s shortfall,” McPherson said.
 
Sequestration took effect in March and will remain in effect for another eight years unless Congress acts.  The survey, conducted in October at the close of the federal fiscal year, found that the mandatory cuts to discretionary spending (from which research budgets are funded) already were taking a toll.  The most commonly cited impacts of the sequester among survey respondents were a reduction in the number of new federal research grants (70% of responding universities) and delayed research projects (also 70%).  While the loss or delay of critical research is serious in itself, it is the other impacts of these reductions and delays –the financial costs, the effects on jobs and careers, and the opportunity costs – that illuminate the real consequences of sequestration.

“For seven decades,” said AAU President Hunter Rawlings, “federally funded university research has produced innovations that have driven the economy, dramatically improved health, and enhanced national security.  This research has also made possible the training of generations of American scientists and engineers.  But as we cut, and then cut some more, and as our competitors overseas increase their investments in research and education, we create an innovation deficit that threatens America’s global leadership. This foolish policy must end.”

Among the other specific findings of the associations’ survey:

•    Fifty-eight percent of respondents cited personnel impacts at their institutions as a result of sequester.  This included position reductions (50%) as well as layoffs (24%).  

•    Eighty-one percent of respondents cited impacts directly affecting their research activity. These ranged from the previously mentioned reduction in the number federal grants and delayed research projects to the inability to purchase research equipment or instrumentation (28%) and cancelled (19%) or delayed (38%) field or experimental work.

•    Forty-two percent of respondents cited impacts directly affecting students, including admission of fewer graduate students (23%), graduate student loss of tuition reductions or stipends (14%) and reduction in research opportunities for undergraduate students (30%).

"There is a clear and present danger that sequestration will damage America's pre-eminence in scientific research and higher education over the long-term," said Northeastern University President Joseph Aoun on behalf of The Science Coalition.  “Given the impact we already have seen, we urge the members of the House and Senate who are negotiating funding for FY2014 and beyond to end sequestration, enable investments in scientific research and higher education, and restore the dividends these investments produce for our economy and society."

About the Survey:  Administrators at the 171 research universities that are members of the AAU, APLU and/or TSC were invited to respond to a survey about the specific impacts of sequestration on their campuses.  Of those 171 institutions, 74 completed the survey for a response rate of 43 percent. The margin of error is +/- 10 percent.  The survey was conducted after the close of the federal fiscal year so as to capture sequestration’s impact in FY 2013. A summary of survey findings is available at ScienceWorksforUS.org.

For more information on sequestration and its impact on scientific research across the country, visit www.ScienceWorksForUS.org. ScienceWorksForUS is a project of the Association of American Universities (AAU), the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) and the Science Coalition (TSC) to demonstrate the tremendous impact that federally funded university based research has on the nation and on the lives of all Americans.   

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sgarman@quinngillespie.com (Sue Garman) Press Releases Mon, 11 Nov 2013 17:01:16 +0000
Sequester Strains Science Researchers /press-releases/sequester-strains-science-researchers /press-releases/sequester-strains-science-researchers Inside Higher Ed

By: Michael Stratford

The billions of dollars in cuts to federal research funding earlier this year are prompting science researchers across the country to lay off researchers, close laboratories and scramble to find other sources of funding.

Researchers said the budget cuts, caused by across-the-board reductions known as sequestration, are threatening important scientific investigations and pushing young scientists out of the field. Those worries are compounded by the uncertainty of how much money will be available for research in the coming fiscal year, which could bring even deeper cuts.

Already this year, the dire warnings from research officials and higher education advocates about what sequestration would mean for research are beginning to play out. More than half of researchers who responded to a recent survey by the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology said they either had laid off or expected to lay off researchers as the result of declining federal science funding. Large majorities of survey respondents also said they had seen their grant money decrease, experienced difficulty in obtaining new funding, and spent increasingly more time writing grant applications.

Sequestration this year cut the National Institutes of Health’s budget by $1.55 billion, forcing the agency to fund 703 fewer competitive research grants than it did in 2012.

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sgarman@quinngillespie.com (Sue Garman) Press Releases Mon, 09 Sep 2013 16:57:35 +0000
Sequester Will Have a Devastating Impact on America’s Research Enterprise /press-releases/sequester-will-have-a-devastating-impact-on-america-s-research-enterprise-2 /press-releases/sequester-will-have-a-devastating-impact-on-america-s-research-enterprise-2 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                       February 28, 2013

 

SEQUESTER WILL HAVE A DEVASTATING IMPACT ON AMERICA'S RESEARCH ENTERPRISE

Researchers’ Video Messages Detail Consequences to Nation’s Ability to Educate, Innovate and Compete

WASHINGTON, DC – The 200-plus research universities that make up ScienceWorksForU.S. today again called on Congress to stop sequestration and prevent the across-the-board cuts to discretionary spending that will result in drastic reductions in funding for basic scientific research.  The consequences to the U.S. economy of reduced R&D under sequestration are significant – a minimum $203 billion reduction in U.S. GDP over the next nine years and 200,000 fewer jobs per year between 2013 and 2016 – but there are many other ways the United States will feel the impact of such drastic cuts.

In video messages to Congress, students, researchers and administrators spoke of the economic impact of sequestration, but also shared some of its more immediate and personal impacts.

To Suzanne Weaver Smith of the University of Kentucky, who leads NASA Kentucky, sequestration means a 40 percent cut to NASA’s higher education programs there. “That’s 30 students who are not going to have those opportunities,” she says. “These students hopefully won’t choose to leave STEM fields or not to pursue education, but you know that is really the risk.”

Smith’s UK colleagues, Mike Reid, a professor of physiology, and John Anthony, a professor of chemistry, expressed similar concerns about the people – undergraduate researchers, grad students, Ph.D. and post-doctoral scholars – working in their labs.

“If we have an abrupt cessation of federal funding, not only does the research stop but in some cases their livelihood stops,” Reid says. He adds, “[when] research stops in a research-intensive field like physiology that means [students’] ability to progress toward a Ph.D. is immediately halted. They have no way to move forward without the support they need to do their work.”

“These guys get a salary, they rent local homes, they pay taxes, they buy groceries, and we are essentially laying them off,” says Anthony who is part of the Center for Applied Energy Research at UK. “So that is going to have not only an impact on the progress of our research programs to bring lower cost energy to the planet, but it is going to have a big impact on the local economy,” he says.

Patricia Butterfield, dean of the Washington State University School of Nursing reminds Congress, “We engage in a partnership with the community, working with active clinicians to address the questions that are at the heart of delivering safe healthcare that saves lives. Interruptions in that only mean one thing; it means rolling back the clock on quality and putting the lives of our patients at increased risk.”

Agricultural researchers at WSU are leading the way in solving some of the world’s most pressing issues. Says Dan Bernardo, dean of the WSU College of College of Agricultural, Human and Natural Resource Sciences, “the work our researchers do increases food production to feed a hungry world, ensures food safety and food security, improves the economic and environmental sustainability of food production, and develops alternative fuel sources to power the planet and foster energy independence.”

“There will be real-world impacts to sequestration felt by the consumer as agriculture is impacted by potential across-the-board cuts,” according to Bernardo.

George Washington University undergraduate research students April MacIntyre and Hamza Rahimi spoke of their concern that cuts to research would change the career plans of a generation of aspiring young scientists, doctors and engineers.

Federal research funding provides “resources to educate bright students with a passion to change the world through science,” says Rahimi, a senior.  “Cuts from the sequestration will close off an essential pipeline, limiting the options of students across the country who are just like us, as well as damaging American competitiveness around the world,” he adds.

Angela DePace, an assistant professor of systems biology at Harvard Medical school, runs a six-person lab and she worries that with sequestration she will have to lay off her staff of mostly grad students.

She also worries about America’s global innovation leadership. “One of the most wonderful things about a career in science is that you meet people from all over the world [who] come here to train,” DePace says. “But if we decrease funding for science, we risk losing these scientists – Americans and our international scientists – to other countries where they are investing in science more heavily. That really puts our entire innovation culture at risk, which I find really disheartening.”

“With sequestration, the prospects for new medicines will dip,” explains William Chin, executive dean for research at Harvard Medical School.  “Basic research is funded largely by government sources and not by industry. Industry will need to continue to focus its funding in late-stage development,” he says.

“Today, thanks to investments by the National Institutes of Health, diseases from HIV to many cancers and heart diseases – once a death sentence – are now yielding to therapy,” says Dr. Jeffrey Balser, vice chancellor for Health Affairs at Vanderbilt University. But, he adds, “the battle is never over as we work feverishly on diseases even now becoming epidemics.”

“Those of us working in biomedical research find the notion our elected officials might, through intention or neglect, force our scientists to abandon their efforts is rather frightening,” says Balser. “I know that families in this country, suffering with serious disease share my concern.”

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ScienceWorksForUS is a project of the Association of American Universities (AAU), the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) and the Science Coalition (TSC) to demonstrate the tremendous impact that federally funded university based research has on the nation and on the lives of all Americans, particularly the role it plays in improving health and spurring economic growth.

Press Contacts:

AAU:     Barry Toiv barry_toiv@aau.edu / 202-408-7500

APLU:    Jeff Lieberson jlieberson@aplu.org / 202-478-6040

TSC:       Lauren Pulte lpulte@qga.com / 202-429-6875             

 

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sgarman@quinngillespie.com (Sue Garman) Press Releases Thu, 28 Feb 2013 15:22:03 +0000
One Week and Counting: Don't Cut the Research That Fuels the U.S. Economy /press-releases/one-week-and-counting-dont-cut-the-research-that-fuels-the-u-s-economy /press-releases/one-week-and-counting-dont-cut-the-research-that-fuels-the-u-s-economy FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                        February 22, 2013

 

ONE WEEK AND COUNTING: DON'T CUT THE RESEARCH THAT FUELS THE U.S. ECONOMY

ScienceWorksForU.S. Sustains Call to Prevent Sequestration

WASHINGTON, DC – With only one week left before sequestration is to take effect, America’s research community sustained its call for an end to the across-the-board cuts to discretionary spending that will severely restrict the nation’s ability to invest in the basic scientific research that drives innovation and produces economic growth.  Sequestration will reduce federal funding for scientific research by nearly $95 billion over the next nine years, which will result in a reduction of U.S. GDP by at least $203 billion. The net impact will be 200,000 fewer jobs per year between 2013 and 2016, or a 0.2 percent impact on the U.S. unemployment rate.

American industry depends on the steady pipeline of knowledge, discovery and innovation that flows from the federally funded scientific research conducted at universities across the nation.  The U.S. economy depends on the ability of American industry to use this innovation to create new technologies and new jobs.  Since World War II, federally-supported science-driven innovation has fueled half of all economic growth in the United States.  It spawned the biotech and semiconductor industries; gave us tools like the laser, GPS and MRI; and through the World Wide Web and the Internet, has entirely changed the way we communicate and conduct commerce.

In individual video messages calling on Congress to stop the sequester, researchers and university officials outlined some of the ways federal investments in basic scientific research pay economic and other dividends – and some of the ways these dividends are threatened by sequestration.

“Many people don’t appreciate the value of research and what it means to our economy; America has always been built on innovation,” says Joseph DeSimone of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University. In the past, he explains, private sector facilities like Bell Labs drove much innovation, but these labs don’t exist today.  “Pure and simple: our nation’s economy is driven by technologies emerging from our research universities,” he says.

Breakthrough nanotechnology research in DeSimone's lab led to the creation of Liquidia Technologies, a North Carolina-based company that employs more than 60 people and is working to bring to market a promising new approach to flu vaccines.

“We are going to have to start making computers in an entirely different way; not based on transistors but based on quantum mechanics and new technologies that we are developing,” says Matt Tirrell of the University of Chicago.  Tirrell, who leads the university’s Institute for Molecular Engineering warns that this research will be “killed in its infancy” by sequestration and that this will be particularly harmful to the future ability of the U.S. computer industry to compete.

“The computer industry,” he adds, “is one where, historically, the competition between the United States and the rest of the world has been kind of a seesaw battle. We’re not going to be able to keep coming back unless the investments keep getting made.”

“Whether it’s your Google phone or your iPhone or just sitting in your office and not worrying about a hardwire hook-up, these technologies are not going to be there if we don’t invest in basic research,” says Mark Glauser, associate dean for research at Syracuse University.

Harlan Spence of the University of New Hampshire points out that basic research is an essential component of the policymaking process.  Spence leads the Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans and Space at UNH.  He says that cuts to the research budgets of NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Science Foundation will “stifle progress on scientific understanding in areas needed for assessing national policy [including], the climate, the environment, sustainability and the emerging discipline of space weather.”

By conducting basic research, universities not only produce discoveries but also train the next generation of scientists, engineers, doctors and teachers; this keeps America productive and globally competitive.  Sequestration would have “lasting consequences on our nation’s federally supported graduate education and basic research programs,” says Robert Buhrman, senior vice provost for research at Cornell University.

He adds, “Graduate students become our nation’s scientists of tomorrow. What scientists learn yesterday serves today; what scientists learn today serves tomorrow. Reducing funding for research breaks a cycle, a cycle we cannot afford to break.”

 

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ScienceWorksForUS is a project of the Association of American Universities (AAU), the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) and the Science Coalition (TSC) to demonstrate the tremendous impact that federally funded university based research has on the nation and on the lives of all Americans, particularly the role it plays in improving health and spurring economic growth.

Press Contacts:

AAU:     Barry Toiv barry_toiv@aau.edu / 202-408-7500

APLU:    Jeff Lieberson jlieberson@aplu.org / 202-478-6040

TSC:       Lauren Pulte lpulte@qga.com / 202-429-6875

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sgarman@quinngillespie.com (Sue Garman) Press Releases Fri, 22 Feb 2013 16:29:56 +0000
From University Chancellors to Post-Docs, the Message to Congress is the Same: Stop the Sequester and Preserve America's Leadership in Science and Innovation /press-releases/from-university-chancellors-to-post-docs-the-message-to-congress-is-the-same-stop-the-sequester-and-preserve-america-s-leadership-in-science-and-innovation /press-releases/from-university-chancellors-to-post-docs-the-message-to-congress-is-the-same-stop-the-sequester-and-preserve-america-s-leadership-in-science-and-innovation FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                          February 13, 2013

 

FROM UNIVERSITY CHANCELLORS TO POST-DOCS, THE MESSAGE TO CONGRESS IS THE SAME:

STOP THE SEQUESTER AND PRESERVE AMERICA'S LEADERSHIP IN SCIENCE AND INNOVATION

 

WASHINGTON, DC – On the heels of President Obama’s State of the Union address that called for a “level of research and development not seen since the height of the Space Race,” members of  America’s research community renewed their call for an end to the budget sequester, which will impose severe cuts on such research.

In individual video messages to Congress, university chancellors, research officers, faculty and students discussed their work and their fears about the drastic cuts to federally funded university research, which will amount to nearly $95 billion over the next nine years.  These cuts are in addition to the tight caps on discretionary spending put in place by the Budget Control Act of 2011.

“Automatic across the board cuts to federal programs supporting students and research would have a devastating impact on our nation’s ability to compete,” says Phyllis Wise, chancellor of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. “We must revisit, recalculate, and reverse these before they are triggered.”

America’s research institutions are making great strides in addressing some of the nation’s most difficult challenges in health care, energy, the environment and defense.  Researchers at the University of Delaware spoke of the impact the across-the-board cuts will have on this work.  “The sequester would slow vital renewable energy research,” according to Willet Kempton of UD’s Center for Carbon-free Power Integration.  Geologist Holly Michael adds, “the sequester will leave us behind the curve in preparing for sea level rise.”

Emory University School of Medicine Research Dean Raymond Dingledine reminds Congress that “the therapies that result from vigorous, vigorous research by the biomedical community help strengthen our economy, and in a way, help defend our nation.” Research by Emory University scientists and funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has yielded numerous life-changing innovations, including new AIDS medicines and modern surgical techniques for Parkinson’s disease.

“It’s absolutely critical for us to continue the federal funding that allows science to move forward,” says Dr. Rebecca Jackson of the Center for Clinical and Translational Science at The Ohio State University.

Melinda Cromie, a postdoctoral student at Stanford University, benefitted from a federal research fellowship. She worries about the complex nature of these challenges and whether the sequester will sap us of the human resources necessary to deal with them. “If we lose federal funding, fewer people will be able to undertake this training,” she says.  “As a nation we can’t afford to not have the resource of people trained to deal with these problems.”

The video editorials are being released by ScienceWorksForU.S. throughout February in an effort to impress upon lawmakers the importance of finding deficit reduction solutions that allow the country to continue to invest in basic scientific and medical research and other things that contribute to economic growth, security and health.

According to University of Kansas Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little, “The solution to America’s financial challenges should be balanced and should recognize that the discoveries universities make today will be the foundation of our economy tomorrow.”

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ScienceWorksForUS is a project of the Association of American Universities (AAU), the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) and the Science Coalition (TSC) to demonstrate the tremendous impact that federally funded university based research has on the nation and on the lives of all Americans, particularly the role it plays in improving health and spurring economic growth.

Press Contacts:

AAU:     Barry Toiv barry_toiv@aau.edu / 202-408-7500

APLU:    Jeff Lieberson jlieberson@aplu.edu / 202-478-6040

TSC:       Lauren Pulte lpulte@qga.com / 202-429-6875

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sgarman@quinngillespie.com (Sue Garman) Press Releases Wed, 13 Feb 2013 19:50:46 +0000
Members of America’s Research Community urge Congress: Stop the Sequester /press-releases/members-of-america-s-research-community-urge-congress-stop-the-sequester /press-releases/members-of-america-s-research-community-urge-congress-stop-the-sequester FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                         February 5, 2013

 

MEMBERS OF AMERICA'S RESEARCH COMMUNITY URGE CONGRESS: STOP THE SEQUESTER

Video Editorials Detail Threats to Promising Biomedical and Scientific Research, Next Generation of Innovators, and America’s Technological Leadership


WASHINGTON, DC – With only a month remaining before the across-the-board cuts to the nation’s discretionary spending known as the sequester take effect, researchers across the country are sending an urgent message to Congress:  Stop the sequester or risk the loss of a generation of discoveries, cures, new companies and talent.

Their individual messages are part of a new initiative by ScienceWorksForU.S., a project of the Association of American Universities (AAU), the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) and The Science Coalition (TSC) to inform policymakers and the public of the devastating impact that the upcoming budget sequester will have on federal funding for university research. Universities conduct the majority of basic scientific and medical research in the United States and, as such, are ground zero for the discovery and innovation that fuels the economy, as well as for the education of future scientists, engineers, doctors, teachers and entrepreneurs.

“We live in a global economy with a growing number of strong international competitors. If we pull back now from investing in our future we will lose ground that will be difficult – if not impossible – to regain,” warns Stephen Forrest, vice president for research at the University of Michigan.

Already a relatively small portion of the federal budget, research funding will be cut by nearly $95 billion over the next nine years under sequestration. These cuts are in addition to the tight caps on discretionary spending put in place by the Budget Control Act of 2011, which will likely further reduce the funds available for research over the next decade.

“These cuts are not just a retreat from our nation’s cutting edge research programs – they would directly impact opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students to prepare for careers as the high tech innovators our nation needs to prosper. Join me in telling Congress to end the budget sequestration and invest in our future,” says Laurie Leshin, a former NASA scientist and dean of the College of Science at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York State.

In labs across the United States work is being done that holds promise for many of the country’s most difficult challenges, including finding treatments for debilitating diseases and finding ways to safely and effectively unleash new energy sources. The sequester would put this work on hold and in some cases already is having a chilling effect.

“I recently informed my post-doc that we can’t keep him once the current grant expires,” says Earl Scime, chair of the Physics Department at West Virginia University. “Our latest grant proposal earned rave reviews, but the next phase of our research won’t be funded.  Sequestration means that there will be more of this on a larger scale.”

The video editorials will be released throughout the month of February in an effort to impress upon lawmakers the importance of finding deficit reduction solutions that allow the country to continue to invest in basic scientific and medical research and other things that contribute to economic growth, security and health.

Other featured video editorials include:

Mansoor Amiji leads a team at Northeastern University in Massachusetts that is developing innovative cancer treatment methods with support from the National Cancer Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).  Sequestration would mean fewer researchers and less equipment, greatly slowing the progress of their work.

Lucas Arzola’s company, Inserogen, is developing innovative solutions to vaccine production using tobacco plants.  Federal research funding as a graduate student at University of California, Davis, enabled him to pursue the research leading to this new technology.  If Congress does not act, other graduate students may not have the support they need to make the next big discovery.

Daniel Colon-Ramos, a Yale cell biologist who is concerned that the work of his lab – funded largely by the NIH – could come to a “screeching halt.” The work of Colon-Ramos and his colleagues to understand the mechanisms of how the nerve system forms holds great implications for diseases such as autism, schizophrenia and epilepsy.

Mo Khalil, an assistant professor at Boston University, is working at the intersection of engineering and molecular biology and his research has wide-ranging potential for health, energy and the environment. He is concerned that sequestration would have a devastating impact on the work of his lab.

Patrick O’Shea, vice president for research at the University of Maryland, is trying to reassure students there that everything possible is being done to preserve research funding and the future of those who conduct research.  He urges Congress to protect research students and ensure America's future by stopping the sequester.

Ali Rezai, M.D., whose NIH-funded work at The Ohio State University led to the development of brain pacemakers that now alleviate the suffering and vastly improve the quality of life of those with Parkinson’s disease.  He reminds policymakers that type of work requires steady, sustained funding.

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ScienceWorksForUS is a project of the Association of American Universities (AAU), the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) and the Science Coalition (TSC) to demonstrate the tremendous impact that federally funded university based research has on the nation and on the lives of all Americans, particularly the role it plays in improving health and spurring economic growth.

Press Contacts:

AAU:     Barry Toiv barry_toiv@aau.edu / 202-408-7500

APLU:    Paul Hassen phassen@aplu.org / 202-478-6073

TSC:       Lauren Pulte lpulte@qga.com / 202-429-6875

 

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sgarman@quinngillespie.com (Sue Garman) Press Releases Tue, 05 Feb 2013 14:40:01 +0000
Sequester will have a devastating impact on America's research enterprise /press-releases/sequester-will-have-a-devastating-impact-on-america-s-research-enterprise /press-releases/sequester-will-have-a-devastating-impact-on-america-s-research-enterprise

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                            November 19, 2012

SEQUESTER WILL HAVE A DEVASTATING IMPACT ON AMERICA'S RESEARCH ENTERPRISE

Website Highlights Importance of Federally Funded University Research to Innovation, Economy, Society

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Three organizations representing America’s research universities today launched a website that aims to inform policymakers and the public of the impact that the upcoming budget sequester would have on federal funding for university research.  The organizations – the Association of American Universities (AAU), the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) and The Science Coalition (TSC) – urge Congressional leaders and the President to act quickly to develop a comprehensive, balanced solution to America’s fiscal crisis that avoids steep cuts to scientific research, which pays a substantial return on investment in the form of job creation, workforce development and economic growth.

Collectively, the three sponsoring organizations represent more than 200 of the country’s leading academic research institutions.  Their website, www.ScienceWorksForUS.org, provides data on the impact that sequestration – the across-the-board spending cut scheduled to take effect on Jan. 2, 2013 - is likely to have next year on academic research in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.  While the estimated reduction in research funding ranges from the hundreds of millions of dollars for large, research-intensive states to less than $10 million for smaller states, every state will experience a significant impact given the catalytic effect research universities have on local and state economies.  The website also provides numerous examples of the essential role that federally funded university research plays in today’s economy and the impact it has on society at large.

“Federal funding for research represents only 2 percent of the total federal budget, but it pays enormous dividends,” said Philip DiStefano, Chancellor of the University of Colorado Boulder, which is a member of AAU, APLU and TSC.  “The numbers might not look huge, but the potential negative impact of reduced research on the economy would have long-lasting effects.  That is because basic scientific research produces the discoveries that lead to countless treatments and cures that improve health, provide for our energy needs, fuel the new technologies that spark businesses and economic growth, improve our security, and help us better understand the world around us. ”

Federal funding for research is currently at the lowest level in the past decade in real dollars.  The caps on discretionary spending mandated by the Budget Control Act (BCA) of 2011 will likely further depress research funding over the next decade.  And sequestration requires additional cuts in federal spending on research and development – beyond those that will result from the BCA spending caps – of more than $12 billion in 2013 and nearly $95 billion over the life of the sequester.

“It is essential that America get itself on a sustainable financial path that reduces deficits and makes room for needed investments in the country’s future,” said Sally Mason, president of the University of Iowa and another AAU, APLU, TSC member.  “We urge Congress and the President to work together now to enact a long-term plan to reduce budget deficits, prevent the arbitrary and harmful cuts of sequestration, and provide for continued investments in scientific research that will help build a better America.”

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ScienceWorksForUS is a project of the Association of American Universities (AAU), the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (A۰P۰L۰U) and the Science Coalition (TSC) to demonstrate the tremendous impact that federally funded university based research has on the nation and on the lives of all Americans, particularly the role it plays in improving health and spurring economic growth.

Press Contacts:

AAU:     Barry Toiv barry_toiv@aau.edu or Ann Speicher ann_speicher@aau.edu / 202-408-7500

APLU:    Paul Hassen phassen@aplu.org / 202-478-6073

TSC:       Lauren Pulte lpulte@qga.com / 202-429-6875


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sgarman@quinngillespie.com (Sue Garman) Press Releases Mon, 19 Nov 2012 13:59:48 +0000