Arguing that the pace of discovery in the United States has greatly slowed in recent decades, a new White House report calls for dramatic changes in how the federal government supports science. However, Lane and other critics decry the proposed changes as a wrong-headed plan that would compound the damage already wreaked by President Donald Trump’s administration.
“I anticipate the report will be used as the rationale for making further cuts in the budgets and staffing of federal research agencies while limiting their authority and accountability to the American people,” Lane said.
The National Science Foundation (NSF) has announced a new initiative to convert new research into products and industries called X-Labs. While critics don’t have an issue with the concept, there are concerns that it is coming at the expense of basic research. Former presidential science adviser and former NSF director Neal Lane described X-Labs as a “terrible idea”.
Since Donald Trump took office for a second presidential term, US science has suffered huge budget cuts, federal layoffs and restructurings at agencies, dismissals of key science advisory boards and a shift in grant-making decisions from scientists to political appointees. Lane, who led the National Science Foundation from 1993 to 1998, compared the state of science under the Trump Administration to a “natural disaster.”
“The storm comes through, it destroys as much as it possibly can on lots of good things, including science,” Lane said. “And then…the storm passes…and we start to rebuild.”
President Donald Trump has tabbed Jim O'Neill to lead the National Science Foundation, a move met with outcry from the research community as O'Neill has none of the traditional qualifications or extensive academic background that typical NSF heads have possessed. Science groups are clamoring for a public hearing on O'Neill's nomination and Lane, a former NSF director, believes O'Neill faces significant likelihood of failure if chosen to lead the organization.
President Donald Trump has tabbed James O'Neill to lead the National Science Foundation, but the U.S. science population is calling for a confirmation hearing to better assess O'Neill's ability to lead the $9 billion agency, as O'Neill lacks an advanced science degree and research experience. Former NSF director Neal Lane comments on the difficulties of preparing for a confirmation hearing, one that researchers have deemed necessary for the first time in more than 3 decades.