Renowned mathematician Terence Tao says funding delays at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) have left his lab struggling to support graduate students and research projects.
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Not only Tao, but the entire UCLA system and several other top universities have been impacted by federal funding cuts under President Donald Trump.
The predicament in the US scientific community sharply contrasts with China’s active efforts to attract talented science and technology researchers, particularly mathematicians.
“The suspension of my grant has a non-trivial impact on myself, and now gives me almost no resources to support my graduate students going forward,” Tao – often called the “Mozart of Mathematics” – posted on social media on Saturday.
“In particular, my summer salary, which I had already deferred to allow the previously released NSF funds to support several of my graduate students over this period, is now in limbo,” he added.
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He was referring to the National Science Foundation (NSF) which, along with the National Institutes of Health (NIH), is among the top US government institutions hit with sharp funding cuts since Trump took office in January.