The NSF funded my graduate research. It feels like someone is going through my past and burning all of the ladders that helped me grow and succeed.
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NSF faces shake-up as officials abolish its 37 divisions
31–40 of 877 posts
Re: NSF faces shake-up as officials abolish its 37 divisions
#32> A spokesperson for NSF says the rationale for abolishing the divisions and removing their leaders is “to reduce the number of SES [senior executive service] positions in the agency and create new non-executive positions to better align with the needs of the agency.” Reducing bureaucracy is not the same as cutting science funding.
It's not, but this spokesperson is lying. The NSF has indefinitely paused all funding and permanently cancelled over a thousand grants. (https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-01396-2)
Re: NSF faces shake-up as officials abolish its 37 divisions
#33> A spokesperson for NSF says the rationale for abolishing the divisions and removing their leaders is “to reduce the number of SES [senior executive service] positions in the agency and create new non-executive positions to better align with the needs of the agency.” Reducing bureaucracy is not the same as cutting science funding.
They are, at best, doing both. But more honestly they are attacking scientific institutions because they are perceived as liberal.
when in fact scientific research is in the interest of Defense, especially NOAA. I'm sure the Air Force will appreciate degraded forecast capability. doesn't even make sense within the normal Republican playbook
Re: NSF faces shake-up as officials abolish its 37 divisions
#34> A spokesperson for NSF says the rationale for abolishing the divisions and removing their leaders is “to reduce the number of SES [senior executive service] positions in the agency and create new non-executive positions to better align with the needs of the agency.” Reducing bureaucracy is not the same as cutting science funding.
The Grant rejections I saw look like it was written by a middle schooler. it's shocking stupidity
Re: NSF faces shake-up as officials abolish its 37 divisions
#35Last week, staff were briefed on a new process for vetting grant proposals that are found to be out of step with a presidential directive on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI),...
In the new structure, even if a revised proposal gets the green light from a division director, a new body whose membership has not been determined will take a fresh look to ensure it conforms to the agency’s new standard for making awards.
So they're going to install gatekeepers to shoot down anything that even hints at DEI. I assume members will be hand picked by the Emperor from a Moms for Liberty short list.
Re: NSF faces shake-up as officials abolish its 37 divisions
#36[flagged]
>idiocracy
It doesn't even fit that, it's worse. In Idiocracy President Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Camacho actually chose to find educated / smart people to make decisions.
In this setup it's all politicians and political hangers on making decisions about things they seem to have limited education on what they manage.
Re: NSF faces shake-up as officials abolish its 37 divisions
#37Re: NSF faces shake-up as officials abolish its 37 divisions
#38I have been in and out of the academic world my entire career. I have worked as a programmer/engineer for two universities and a national lab, and worked at a startup founded by some professors. There is huge uncertainty with the people whom I have worked with, nobody seems to be sure what is going to happen, but it feels like it wont be good. Hiring freezes, international graduate students receiving emails to self deport, and at my last institute many people's funding now no longer supports travel for attend conferences (a key part of science!).
One of the interesting pieces of science that I think a lot of people don't think about is strategic investment. At one point I was paid from a government grant to do high power laser research. Of course there were goals for the grant, but the grant was specifically funded so that the US didn't lose the knowledge of HOW to build lasers. The optics field for example is small, and there are not that many professors. It is an old field, most of the real research is in the private industry. However what happens if a company goes out of business? If we don't have public institutions with the knowledge to train new generations then information can and will be lost.
Re: NSF faces shake-up as officials abolish its 37 divisions
#39Re: NSF faces shake-up as officials abolish its 37 divisions
#40Sounds like a bribe machine