Monday, March 3, 2025

Will the ACS address the Trump Administration's attack on academic funding?

I made a series of comments on Bluesky (more or less off the cuff), but I guess I'll make them here as well. I was thoroughly unimpressed with ACS' recent statement "in support of science": 

...Each year, the American Chemical Society develops a U.S. public policy agenda that outlines how the organization will work with Congress and the administration throughout the course of the year. The agenda is shared at the start of the year when both bodies are traditionally preparing for the year ahead. But the start of this year has been different with federal actions coming immediately. The resulting changes in the federal landscape have been swift, leaving many unsure about what lies ahead. 

We are seeing changes occurring that have potential impacts on the areas of research eligible for federal funding, the types of scientific data being reported, and the level of indirect costs associated with federal biomedical research grants. These are just some of the potential impacts facing the scientific enterprise, with new actions emerging each day...

We're in this moment that we don't really understand, with a real "fog of war" aspect, because the government simply is not actually talking about what they are doing. The Trump White House* appears to be attacking American scientific academia by cutting off funding from NSF and NIH, and slowing the process of grants and cutting indirect costs to the point that universities are beginning to slow PhD admissions (although things seem to be unfreezing now.) 

I've observed ACS leadership long enough to know that political courage or speed are simply not in the cards, and I recognize that they are probably trying to avoid attracting attention, and that the Trump Administration seems very likely to attack non-profits through the tax system for punishment. Nevertheless, simple acknowledgement of what is happening and the level of seeming existential alarm that is taking place in American academia does not seem forthcoming. I desperately hope to be proven wrong, but I'm not holding my breath. 

As I said, surely ACS leadership is working on a plan to petition the government for a redress of American academic chemistry grievances. I hope to see that plan, and very soon. 

*(seeing as how a lot of the ructions started well before, say, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. was confirmed.) 

1 comment:

  1. The ACS's publishing house doesn't deserve their nonprofit status. Rudy Baun was paid an obscene amount during a dismal job market for chemists in 2008.

    ReplyDelete

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