The National Institutes of Health (NIH), one of the world's primary research centers and also the institute in charge in making crucial discoveries in the field of health, could face a budget cut.
The NIH may be affected greatly judging by the budget proposal from the White House. The budget will not only affect the technological sphere but also hamper the future education of upcoming researchers.
Based on the document from the Trump administration, the funding for NIH has been reduced by $5.8 billion, which is a cut of nearly 20 percent.
The proposed budget also eliminates the money required to spend on many other research programs in different federal agencies.
Budget Cuts: Who Are Affected?
According to Joanne Carney, the director of government relations at the American Association for the Advancement of Science, around 80 percent of the funding from the agency is sent to universities and medical centers throughout the country.
The proposed reduction will affect not only scientists but also undergraduate students directly. The budget by the Trump administration will also lead to the reorganization of many of the institutes and NIH study centers, which would focus mainly on the resources required for training activity.
The $70 million Fogarty International Center, which primarily focuses on global health, research and training researchers to work in the developing countries, will be completely eradicated.
According to the blueprint reports of the White House Budget, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has also received a 50 percent cut.
The department of Energy's Office of Science saw an estimated cut of around 17 percent. The Environmental Protection Agency's (EPAs) R&D office saw a cut of 48 percent.
The released documents supporting the Trump budget, however, did not state any information on the National Science Foundation (NSF), which is one of the most crucial supporters of research, especially in social, computer, and physical sciences.
According to Wendy Naus, the executive director of Consortium of Social Science, the NSF is another agency which is expected to face a budget cut of nearly 9.8 percent.
However, Census Bureau will be getting an unexpected 7 percent rise, many of the other statistical agencies are also anticipated to be negatively impacted by the Trump administration's budget.
"By undermining these surveys, you're undermining the quality and credibility of the data," remarked Naus.
Areas like the Department of Energy Office of Science is also expected to face a loss of around $900 million. However, Congress has time until the end of April to voice its opinion before the bill gets passed in 2018.
