Saturday, January 01, 2011

Happy New Year 2011

Wishing everyone a prosperous, safe, and happy new year.

Physical science funding in the US in this year appears to look extremely bleak. After a windfall of stimulus money and boost in spending for various research projects in 2010, this year promises to be a year in which spending cuts will be the norm. Already, there is a pay freeze for employees of the Dept. of Energy. This means that most of those working at various US National Labs will not see a pay raise this year (and probably next year as well).

While it is encouraging that the America Competes Act was passed, this guarantees no funding. It still remains for various appropriations committee in Congress to allocate money to science projects. With the Republicans taking over the House of Representatives this year, and their promise to cut spending, who knows much severe the cut will be in science funding.

It is safe to say that most of us are bracing for the worst.

Zz.

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