Wednesday, October 18, 2017

Faust Lobbies Congress to Maintain Research Funding Levels - MIA C. KARR and CLAIRE E. PARKER, Harvard Crimson

On her most recent trips to Washington, University President Drew G. Faust has added yet another pressing, albeit more quotidian, item to her lobbying agenda: keeping the lights on in Harvard’s labs. President Donald Trump’s 2018 budget would decrease funding for the National Institutes of Health by $5.8 billion, cutting largely from a category of funds called “Facilities and Administrative costs.” These “indirect costs” include lighting and heating within research facilities at universities around the country—one part of the federal government’s effort to bankroll research at American institutions. Harvard received around $600 million in federal research funds in 2016, and approximately a third of that goes toward indirect costs, according to Faust. http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2017/10/13/faust-lobbys-congress-funding/