President Bush proposed cuts to university research in science and agriculture in his 2006 budget released last week, affecting almost all UNC-system schools.
Fewer and smaller scientific research grants mean less support for student training, said Bob Samors, UNC-system associate vice president for federal relations.
“Research funds for universities certainly play an extremely important role,” he said.
Cuts for educational programs at the National Science Foundation alone would take away training funds for 6,140 undergraduate, graduate and postdoctoral students across the country.
University-geared programs from the NSF’s Education and Human Resources Directorate, a major source of schools’ scholarships and grants, would see a drastic 12 percent cut, or $104 million decrease, said Bill Noxon, NSF spokesman.
He said this was part of an effort to give the Department of Education control of school-related programs, especially for K-12 math and science curriculum development.
The switch might be an implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act, but the NSF already was cooperating with the president to carry out his objectives.
But a slight increase in research funding at the NSF and the National Institutes for Health, another major scientific researcher, is a sign that the White House still values the organizations’ studies, Noxon said. NSF monies would increase 2.4 percent to about $5.6 billion, and the NIH funding would increase 0.7 percent to about $28.9 billion.
“The foundation’s research mission remains strong and has backing by both sides of the aisle.”
