Dozens advocate for academic research amid funding cuts at UNC rally
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- Faculty warn multi‑year grants and staffing shortfalls reduce new research awards.
David Wohl studies West African viruses like Ebola at UNC-Chapel Hill. Viruses that can hop onto planes and come to the United States, as Ebola did in 2014.
Yet, Wohl said, funding for his research has stalled. It looks like his funding will eventually squeeze through, but changes to the National Institutes of Health under the Trump administration have axed funding for many of his colleagues.
“We’re not really sure with the ‘America First’ philosophy whether the kind of work we do in West Africa will continue to be important,” said Wohl, a professor of medicine in the UNC School of Medicine’s Division of Infectious Diseases.
Wohl was one of over 100 professors, students and community members who attended the “Stand Up For Science” rally at UNC-Chapel Hill’s Bell Tower Amphitheater Saturday afternoon. Wohl acknowledged the rally likely would not change minds of those opposed to the work researchers do, but said it was still important to speak the truth and keep people from “suffering in silence.”
Mark Peifer, a UNC professor studying cell biology, organized the rally with the help of student groups like the UNC chapter of the Sunrise Movement and other organizations. Peifer took comfort in one piece of good news: funding appropriated by Congress for the NIH and National Science Foundation basically stayed the same — no cuts.
The problem? The way federal agencies are distributing funds to researchers, Peifer and Wohl said:
- Instead of funding grants one year at a time, researchers who get a grant get four or five years of funding, meaning many other researchers do not get funding despite the budget staying flat.
- Staffing is down at federal and public health agencies, so there are fewer people to review grant applications.
- Much of the funding for trainees — undergraduates, PhD and postdoctoral students — has been cut, especially funding that supported diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.
Wohl said young investigators who were hoping to make a career in research are now wondering if they can. Peifer shared a similar experience.
“I’ve got four people in my lab who are applying for graduate school this year, and it’s been a very challenging year for them, because many places are cutting the number of slots,” Peifer said.
As an organizer with a climate organization like Sunrise Movement, UNC sophomore Hannah Hayes said she felt it was important for her generation to speak out and advocate for climate research.
Hayes said the decision to hold the rally at the Bell Tower Amphitheater — between Kenan Stadium and the Genome Sciences Building — was symbolic. While UNC spends $50 million a year on salaries for the football team, The News & Observer reported, research at the university is losing millions in federal funding.
“We are really trying to show that students care about the integrity of our research and our education to our administration and also to the broader public,” Hayes said.
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