25 signatures reached
To: The United States House of Representatives and The United States Senate
Don't Cut Funding for Scientific Research!
Prevent severe cuts to the funding of scientific research at private institutions from taking place.
Why is this important?
If Congress fails to reach agreement on the spending part of the so-called "fiscal cliff" negotiations by late February 2013, private universities such as Princeton, MIT, JHU, and others will face significant losses in federal research funding due to sequestration. This is a serious problem, for in fiscal year 2011, almost 75% of Princeton University's, 72% of Johns Hopkins Medicine's, and 71% of MIT's sponsored research funding came from government sources. Scientific research is the driving force behind today's technology-based economy; significant budget cuts to research institutions will affect everyone.
For instance, scientific research at MIT has allowed for discoveries ranging from the first chemical synthesis of penicillin to an invention that duplicates the biological plant process of photosynthesis. Scientific research conducted at Johns Hopkins University has elucidated many cellular and biochemical mechanisms important for understanding human development and disease. Meanwhile, very recent scientific research at Princeton ranged from progress in particle physics, crucial to last summer's discovery of the long-sought Higgs boson at CERN, to finding a potential new chemotherapeutic approach for treating cancers. Most of this was possible to achieve through funding provided by federal agencies.
Sequestration will have dire consequences for the future of scientific research at private institutions. Our elected officials must prevent these cuts from taking place!
Co-authors: Pavel Shibayev, Ted Brundage (Princeton); Jason Choi (MIT); Evan Hess (JHU)
Sources:
1. http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/2012/12/09/32119/
2. http://tech.mit.edu/V132/N49/funding.html
3. http://www.wusa9.com/health/article/232572/28/The-Fiscal-Cliff-Medical-Research-On--The-Precipice
4. http://web.mit.edu/facts/research-expend.html
5. http://web.mit.edu/facts/research.html
6. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/institute_basic_biomedical_sciences/news_events/articles_and_stories/funding_science/2011_11_Federal_funding.html
7. http://neuroscience.jhu.edu/research.php
8. http://www.princeton.edu/research/
9. http://discovery.princeton.edu/?portfolio=discovery-research-at-princeton
10. http://www.princeton.edu/research/docs/2010-2011-URB-REPORT.pdf (pg. A-3)
For instance, scientific research at MIT has allowed for discoveries ranging from the first chemical synthesis of penicillin to an invention that duplicates the biological plant process of photosynthesis. Scientific research conducted at Johns Hopkins University has elucidated many cellular and biochemical mechanisms important for understanding human development and disease. Meanwhile, very recent scientific research at Princeton ranged from progress in particle physics, crucial to last summer's discovery of the long-sought Higgs boson at CERN, to finding a potential new chemotherapeutic approach for treating cancers. Most of this was possible to achieve through funding provided by federal agencies.
Sequestration will have dire consequences for the future of scientific research at private institutions. Our elected officials must prevent these cuts from taking place!
Co-authors: Pavel Shibayev, Ted Brundage (Princeton); Jason Choi (MIT); Evan Hess (JHU)
Sources:
1. http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/2012/12/09/32119/
2. http://tech.mit.edu/V132/N49/funding.html
3. http://www.wusa9.com/health/article/232572/28/The-Fiscal-Cliff-Medical-Research-On--The-Precipice
4. http://web.mit.edu/facts/research-expend.html
5. http://web.mit.edu/facts/research.html
6. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/institute_basic_biomedical_sciences/news_events/articles_and_stories/funding_science/2011_11_Federal_funding.html
7. http://neuroscience.jhu.edu/research.php
8. http://www.princeton.edu/research/
9. http://discovery.princeton.edu/?portfolio=discovery-research-at-princeton
10. http://www.princeton.edu/research/docs/2010-2011-URB-REPORT.pdf (pg. A-3)