Category Archives: Funding

The Crisis of Big Science: Why Misunderstanding Money Matters

Posted on April 26, 2012 by

Nobel Prize recipient and physicist Steven Weinberg is not optimistic about the future of big science projects like various particle colliders (boldface mine): Big science is in competition for government funds, not only with manned space flight, and with various … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Funding | 4 Comments

It Sure Looks Like There’s a PhD Glut, Especially If You’re a Young PhD

Posted on April 24, 2012 by

And especially if you’re interested in traditional industry or academia. Comrade PhysioProf, however, declares: There is a big fucken snivel-fest going on over at DrugMonkey about how terrible it is for universities to increase the number of PhDs they award … Continue reading →

Posted in Funding, Jobs, NIH | 9 Comments

Neonicotinoids, Colony Collapse Disorder, and ‘Bee Medical Research’

Posted on April 2, 2012 by

Peter Dorman, who writes one of my favorite economics blogs, raises two problems with Carl Zimmer’s recent NYT article about neonicotinoid pesticides and their possible link to colony collapse disorder (‘CCD’). First, Dorman states: There followed comments from four of … Continue reading →

Posted in Funding, Insects

My Simple Solution to Fix the MBTA’s Funding Shortfall

Posted on March 30, 2012 by

A while ago, I noted that the MBTA’s budget cuts were idiotic and short-sighted, especially the weekend service cuts: Then there’s the effect on tourism. The E train goes directly to the MFA and very close the Gardiner Museum. It … Continue reading →

Posted in Boston, Funding, Massachusetts, Taxes, Transportation | 1 Comment

A Casuality of ‘Fiscal Responsibility’: Earthquake Warning

Posted on March 29, 2012 by

Because warning people about natural disasters is the cold, dead hand of socialism (boldface mine): “The main problem is funding,” said Doug Given, a project manager for the U.S. Geological Survey’s earthquake monitoring program. “In the current government financial situation, … Continue reading →

Posted in CIA Spy Shit, Earthquakes, Fucking Morons, Funding

Dear Republicans, If You’re Worried About NIH’s NCATS Taking Money Away From Basic Sciences…

Posted on March 23, 2012 by

…the Mad Biologist has a suggestion. Before we get to that, some background. NCATS is a new NIH center with the following mission: Currently, many costly, time-consuming bottlenecks exist in the translational pipeline. Working in partnership with the public and … Continue reading →

Posted in Conservatives, Funding, NIH

CDC Cuts and Why Fallacies About Money Matter

Posted on March 13, 2012 by

Once again, the CDC, an organization which is already overcommitted and underfunded, is under the budgetary gun (boldface mine) The proposed cut would come from the part of the agency’s budget that is controlled by Congress and pays for the … Continue reading →

Posted in CDC, Funding

If You Want Open Science, Then You Need to Convince Funders

Posted on March 1, 2012 by

What with the RWA kerfuffle, there has been a resurgence in advocacy for open-access science–not just removing paywalls, but also eliminating traditional peer review. To put it simply, if you are serious about this, then you have to work with … Continue reading →

Posted in Funding, Publishing | 2 Comments

Procedural Priniciple Versus Outcomes, Open Grant Review, and More on H.R. 3433

Posted on February 9, 2012 by

Let us strive to be the New Open Transparent Man! (from here) Before I get to ranting talking about H.R. 3433, it’s worth reviewing the Mad Biologist’s Pentultimate Political Principle: people have to like this crap. And a corollary of … Continue reading →

Posted in Conservatives, Funding | 3 Comments

What’s Wrong With a Welfare Nation?

Posted on January 31, 2012 by

At The Atlantic, a post by Alex Tabarrok, “The Innovation Nation vs. the Warfare-Welfare State“, has been making its way around the bloggysphere, in part due to the big shout out to science, as embodied by this figure: Tabarrok: We … Continue reading →

Posted in Basic Human Decency, Conservatives, Ethics, Funding, Healthcare, Public Health, Social Security | 2 Comments