In a recent issue of The Park Record there were profiles of two Park City High School graduating seniors who are planning on pursuing science majors in college. This speaks positively of the science curriculum at the high school, and I hope they are successful. They are likely to face some challenges going forward, considering the current hostility towards higher education in general and science in particular.
For about 80 years, since the end of World War II, there has been a collaborative effort involving the government and scientific research institutions. This has come largely through government support of investigator-initiated proposals, competitively reviewed, and evaluated based on the scientific merit.
This arrangement has been very productive and beneficial, including economically, in many fields. For instance, the foundation of the internet grew out of such support.
There have recently been abrupt drastic cuts in support for such programs, based not on merit considerations but on capricious whims.
Drastically reduced funding has been proposed for the future. This has suddenly terminated many projects, with research staff finding themselves unemployed and putting the careers of investigators in question.
A number of institutions have already scaled back admissions of graduate students because if the conditions are not reversed, it is unclear that there will be resources for their research studies.
Aside from the potential for losing a cohort of future scientists, this also impacts undergraduate training, both because graduate students participate in undergraduate instruction and because it removes the opportunities for undergraduates to participate in research.
The developments raise serious concerns about the future of the scientific enterprise in this country. As evidence of this, in a recent survey of 1,600 U.S. researchers reported in Nature, one of the premier international science journals, 75% responded that they were considering leaving the country to pursue opportunities elsewhere in light of the turn of events. (Nature, 10 April 2025, p. 298)
David Live
Park City