Shopee USA official Shopee Research funding cuts at US universities

1. NIH Significantly Lowers Indirect Cost Cap for Research, Impacting University Research

Policy Change: The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has lowered the cap on indirect costs for research projects from 25% to 15%, directly impacting university laboratory operating funds.

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Indirect costs include necessary expenses such as equipment maintenance, administrative support, and laboratory space, and account for 30%-60% of total research funding.

University Responses:

Research Suspension: Some universities have been forced to suspend non-core projects due to funding gaps.

Layoffs and Salary Cuts: Cornell University, the University of Michigan, and other universities have laid off research assistants and technicians, and some professors have faced salary freezes.

Cost Shifting: Stanford and other universities are considering charging researchers "laboratory usage fees," further increasing the burden.

2. Research Brain Drain: 75% of researchers are considering leaving the United States.

Survey Data:

A recent survey by Nature magazine shows that 75% of American researchers are considering relocating to Canada, the European Union, or Asian countries.

The main reasons include funding shortages (58%), political interference in science (32%), and visa restrictions (10%).

Target Countries:

Canada: Accelerating the recruitment of life science researchers through the "Global Talent Initiative."

Germany: The Max Planck Institute offers a "no-overhead" funding package.

China: State Key Laboratories are open to foreign scientists, with annual salaries up to 1.5 times higher than those in the United States.

3. Controversy Behind the Policy

Government Position: The Trump administration calls this move "waste reduction" and demands that universities "improve efficiency."

Academic Rebuttal:

Nobel Prize winner Jennifer Doudna noted, "A 15% cap wouldn't even cover the electricity bill; it's stifling basic science."

The Association of American Universities (AAU) warned that the United States could lose its leading position in key fields such as artificial intelligence and gene editing.

4. Long-Term Impact

Industry Chain Reaction:

Biotech companies (such as Moderna) rely on university research, and a loss of talent would delay new drug development.

Venture capital is beginning to shift toward startups in Europe (such as Switzerland and the United Kingdom).

International Competitive Landscape:

China's R&D budget will increase by 7.1% in 2024, with a focus on attracting top overseas scholars.

The EU's Horizon Program has allocated €95 billion to target US teams.

5. Possible Solutions and Obstacles

Congressional Action: Democrats have proposed restoring the indirect cost ratio, but this requires Republican support, and the current deadlock is difficult to break.

University Self-Rescue:

Harvard, MIT, and other universities plan to use their endowments to subsidize research, but this will only alleviate short-term pressure.

Public universities (such as the University of California system) plan to work with state governments to establish an emergency research fund.

Summary: NIH funding cuts are not just a budgetary issue; they have also triggered a "war for scientific talent." If these policies continue, the United States could face its worst scientific research decline in half a century, while countries like Canada and China are vying to fill the gap. "When the lab light goes out, who will light the next one?"