Sequester Takes Uneven Bite From Agency Budgets

摘要

For nearly a year now, U.S. research leaders have been issuing dire warnings about layoffs and shuttered labs in the wake of the 5% budget cut, known as the sequester, that hit most federal research agencies in 2013. But as the U.S. fiscal year enters its final week, hard data on how the sequester is affecting the country's scientific enterprise remain scarce. Several university deans and government laboratory directors report that its bite so far has been less severe than the bark, and the sequester's impact also varies by agency. Last week, Francis Collins, the director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), announced that NIH would make 650 fewer new competitive awards in 2013, a 7% drop. In contrast, a spokeswoman for the National Science Foundation (NSF) says that, "based on an initial review, we 're not seeing any noteworthy changes in the year-to-date numbers."