Western University researchers worry about gutting of American grant programs

Western University researchers whose work is funded in part by American federal grants are worried about the impact Trump administration cuts will have on their research and on academia in general. 

But the university says it's business as usual on their end and that academics should continue to apply for U.S. grants despite the fact that budgets have been slashed and thousands of people have been fired.  

"First and foremost, I'm hearing a lot of uncertainty. This administration is unpredictable, so it's difficult for folks to really understand what the next target might be or who the next target might be," said Patrick Denice, a Western University sociologist whose work focuses on educational and labour market outcomes. 

Some Canadian researchers have been asked whether their projects deal with "gender ideology" or "elements of diversity, equity and inclusion" — topics targeted by the Trump administration as "radical and wasteful." 

"This level of unpredictability and cutting back on research, this level of distrust and disinterest in research, is really unprecedented," Denice said. 

NPR reported Thursday that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) slashed 1,200 jobs and that employees there are bracing for more possible cuts. The NIH also started cutting hundreds of grants that no longer meet the government's priorities. 

Researchers at Western get more than $2.5 million per year in American funding, according to a university website, and academics who apply for NIH funding or other federal grants are supported by administrative teams at Western. 

"We have not received any communications indicating a change in research funding from U.S. agencies — including NIH — and we continue to advise our researchers to proceed as usual in their interactions with these agencies and the lead organizations with whom they are collaborating," Stephen Ledgley, a Western University spokesperson, told CBC News. 

For academics like Denice, who frequently collaborate with their American counterparts, there's now growing uncertainty about who to work with and which projects will get funded. A lot of his research gets money from the National Science Foundation (NSF), which in mid-February fired about 10 per cent of its workforce. Questions continue about which projects will be funded. 

"The NSF has been a mainstay of social science research for economists, political scientists, sociologists, and others, and with the priorities of this (Trump) administration and the targeting of universities and research more broadly, it is definitely the case that we wonder if it's worth applying to the NSF," Denice said.

"We're going to be looking at other sources of funding that are located outside of the government and might be less subject to the whims of this administration." 

Cuts to other government programs, such as the Department of Education, which administers student loans but also collects data about suspension and graduation rates and standardized test scores, could impact academics like Denice. 

"I did my graduate work in the United States and a lot of my research is still focused on the American context so when I am looking for collaborates, I'm often turning to other researchers in the United States," he said.  

Without the data that the Department of Education collects, Denice's research will be more difficult. "It's really important to understand what is happening in our public education system and what gaps, disparities, and inequalities there might be. That all feels at state with these concrete moves to dismantle this department," he said.