Trump's cuts to research might affect a generation of future scientists

A federal judge might have paused President Donald Trump’s attempt to slash about $4 billion for biomedical research funding through the National Institutes of Health, but the uncertainty created by the administration is already taking an immense toll on science.

Many schools and institutions have preemptively implemented cost-cutting measures in anticipation of losing funding down the line. This will, of course, curtail all sorts of crucial research happening now on disease treatments and preventions. But it will also have reverberations for years to come — potentially affecting an entire generation of future scientists.

A number of colleges — including the University of California at San Diego, Vanderbilt University, University of Washington, and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill — have cut enrollment in their graduate programs, according to reporting from the New York Times and STAT. Boston University has ordered across-the-board hiring freezes, including for student workers and postdoctoral trainees. The University of Pennsylvania and the University of South California have not only issued guidance to reduce the number of incoming PhD students but also to renege offers already made.

Meanwhile, NIH announced this month that it would cancel its prestigious internship program that had given more than 1,000 college students the opportunity to work at the agency every summer. The National Science Foundation has also said it would downsize its research program for undergraduates, which for nearly 40 years has helped students whose home institutions can’t provide opportunities to engage in science, technology, engineering and math research.

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Trump doesn't like anyone who's smarter than him.