!ping MATH Good article about the destruction of NSF’s funding for American mathematics. The article talks about the AMS’s recent emergency backstop grants, but like it says it’s not nearly enough.
Personally my timing was lucky because I am getting research funding from my PhD advisor’s multi-year NSF grant, which was granted right before Trump. But a lot of us are getting fucked over.
I made a new friend at a conference recently. I asked him what his plans are after he defends his thesis. He said his preferences on where to go were, in order:
1. Stay in America
2. Move to Europe
3. Go back home to China
… but recently thia first two options have swapped places, because of this administration.
cdstephens on
This is corroborated by the NYT’s reporting. While NSF grants as a whole have been cut by 51%, math has been disproportionately affected.
This is going to be terrible for the entire field of mathematics. There is so much excellent research coming out of the states every year and I’ve had such a lovely time attending conferences and speaking to the many brilliant mathematical minds over there and it’s horrific that they could face losing their career and dreams as a result of this. I hope the rest of the world would choose to increase their funding for mathematics so we can ensure that these many incredible talents do not find themselves in a position where they must leave mathematics and so that we are not as terribly set back as a community by these changes. Like John Donne said, no man is an island, and certainly no mathematician is either and we must recognise that these funding cuts are not only terrible for our American colleagues but for all of us and the most beautiful field we choose to pursue.
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!ping MATH Good article about the destruction of NSF’s funding for American mathematics. The article talks about the AMS’s recent emergency backstop grants, but like it says it’s not nearly enough.
Personally my timing was lucky because I am getting research funding from my PhD advisor’s multi-year NSF grant, which was granted right before Trump. But a lot of us are getting fucked over.
I made a new friend at a conference recently. I asked him what his plans are after he defends his thesis. He said his preferences on where to go were, in order:
1. Stay in America
2. Move to Europe
3. Go back home to China
… but recently thia first two options have swapped places, because of this administration.
This is corroborated by the NYT’s reporting. While NSF grants as a whole have been cut by 51%, math has been disproportionately affected.
https://preview.redd.it/8vmbdfwt6odf1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=95fc7eb07442ac51b325a354f1e6c04bedec0f70
[https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/05/22/upshot/nsf-grants-trump-cuts.html](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/05/22/upshot/nsf-grants-trump-cuts.html)
This is going to be terrible for the entire field of mathematics. There is so much excellent research coming out of the states every year and I’ve had such a lovely time attending conferences and speaking to the many brilliant mathematical minds over there and it’s horrific that they could face losing their career and dreams as a result of this. I hope the rest of the world would choose to increase their funding for mathematics so we can ensure that these many incredible talents do not find themselves in a position where they must leave mathematics and so that we are not as terribly set back as a community by these changes. Like John Donne said, no man is an island, and certainly no mathematician is either and we must recognise that these funding cuts are not only terrible for our American colleagues but for all of us and the most beautiful field we choose to pursue.