WIKIMEDIA, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURYIt’s tough enough to secure a highly competitive research grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) or the National Science Foundation (NSF) even when those agencies are fully funded and operations are running smoothly. But considering the twin specters of the government-wide sequestration—which squeezed budgets at federal agencies, including NIH and NSF—and yesterday’s government shutdown, scientists that depend on federal funding for their livelihoods and those of their employees are expressing concerns about their ability to continue their work in the near-to-mid term.
Michigan State University’s Robert Britton, an associate professor of microbiology and molecular genetics, told The Scientist that while his lab has to date been unscathed by both the federal budget sequester and shutdown, pending grant reviews are of particular concern to the group. “We have a grant that is currently awaiting review—the panel is scheduled to meet October 21,” he wrote in an e-mail. “So that will likely be delayed.” For one member of Britton’s lab, a significant delay in a funding decision “could force him to find a new job” sooner than he had planned to. True, this person would need to land another position were the grant not to get a fundable score anyway, but if it continues, the shutdown could throw a ...
