federal funding
The Regents of the University of California agreed to pay the United States $499,700 to resolve civil allegations under the False Claims Act that the University of California at Davis submitted false and misleading statements in connection with obtaining grants from the Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Science Foundation (NSF), United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced Dec. 11.
The issue of overregulation is not new for universities, but what is new is that academic scientists seem to finally be making progress with government officials, a ScienceInsider article says.
Writers Richard Harris and Robert Benincasa paint a depressing picture of where U.S. scientific research is heading.
Five U.S. departments and agencies provided most of the federal funding for basic research.
Job satisfaction and morale among researchers relying on government grants were body slammed by the sequestration—at least $1.3 trillion in across-the-board funding cuts were mandated by the 2011 Budget Control Act for 2013 through 2021.
We’ve already seen less-than-savory practices from a few scientists recently due to the tough funding environment in research these days, whether that’s altering research findings or faking them altogether for more impressive results. In the latest example of such unethical behavior, two professors from the University of Houston have been charged with wire fraud and making false statements in order to get $1.3 million in research grants from the U.S. government, according to the Houston Chronicle.
University research is a key component of the US economic ecosystem, returning the investment through enormous public value and impact on employment, business, and manufacturing nationwide.
According to a recent article in the Kansas City Star, some scientists are accusing the U.S. government of only funding marijuana research that shows the ill effects of the drug.
The University of British Columbia celebrates the significant increase in federal government support for research, in particular the creation of the Canada First Research Excellence Fund.
