After Terence Tao "ran out of funding", he let out a desperate roar for the first time in 25 years: The lifeblood of American science has been cut off.
Renowned Chinese - American mathematical genius Terence Tao roared: In his 25 - year scientific research career, he has never been so desperate! The White House has cut off scientific research funding with one stroke. Scientific research meccas in the United States such as UCLA are on the verge of running out of resources. The US scientific research system has been "blood - bathed" in just half a year.
It's extremely infuriating!
In his 25 - year scientific research career, Terence Tao has never encountered such an exasperating experience.
Terence Tao, known as the "Mozart of mathematics", originally wanted to stay out of it. However, the current US government's actions have finally targeted this genius mathematician: the White House has cut off his funding.
Just now, Terence Tao, as an eyewitness, recounted:
How he, UCLA, and the Institute for Pure and Applied Mathematics (IPAM) were "starved of resources" by the White House - graduate student stipends, summer salaries, and five - year operating grants evaporated instantly;
They only managed to tide over the crisis temporarily thanks to urgent private donations.
He roared in the article: This cut has severed the lifeline of American science!
Earthquake in the American academic circle
For more than seventy years, the United States has long been accustomed to its dominant position in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) fields.
A group of the world's top talents have flocked to the United States to study, work, and even settle down. Some came to escape war - torn or politically unstable homelands; but more people (including Terence Tao) were simply attracted by the vitality, stability, and resources of the US scientific research environment - a place full of opportunities.
Nobel laureates Albert Einstein (left), Enrico Fermi (middle), and Eugene Wigner (right) moved to the United States because of World War II.
For this reason, the United States has always been the source of many scientific breakthroughs and technological advancements in the modern world.
But in just six months! The US scientific research system has suffered an unprecedented "massacre".
The scientific research infrastructure that once allowed the United States to firmly hold the position of scientific research hegemon is being gradually emptied.
Suddenly, scientific research funding has been "strangled". Many projects have been abandoned halfway; scholarships and fellowships for training the next generation of scientists have been significantly cut; research institutions that rely on national support in the United States have even been deprived of basic survival resources.
All this is not a careful choice of science, not an open debate in Congress, but a cold executive order from Trump!
These directives go far beyond common sense, disrupting long - running projects and eroding the independence of the US research ecosystem.
Terence Tao: In his 25 - year scientific research career, he has never been so frustrated!
Terence Tao spoke out this time because he is deeply involved, and his entire career has been greatly benefited from the US academic ecosystem.
He grew up in Australia but was immersed in American science and culture from a young age:
He learned to count from "Sesame Street";
Carl Sagan's "Cosmos" inspired his curiosity about the natural world;
Books from the American Mathematical Society (AMS) deepened his love for mathematics.
Finally, he started his mathematical journey as an undergraduate in Australia, entered Princeton University for postgraduate studies with a special scholarship, and then obtained a post - doctoral position at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).
Terence Tao: Currently a Distinguished Professor of Mathematics at UCLA, Director of Special Projects at IPAM, and a member of the academies of sciences of countries such as the UK, Australia, and the United States.
There, he has been teaching, mentoring students, and conducting research for over 25 years.
During his 25 years at UCLA, he has witnessed firsthand how continuous investment in scientific research promotes cooperation between universities, government laboratories, and industries.
At the Institute for Pure and Applied Mathematics (IPAM) at UCLA, these collaborations have laid a solid foundation for theoretical breakthroughs and practical technologies. For example, the reduction of the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanning time to one - tenth of the original is due to his own research at IPAM.
This is the ideal scientific research place in his mind: a place that regards science as a public asset, a place where researchers from all over the world can gather, contribute their wisdom and energy.
For this reason, the United States has become the source of many scientific breakthroughs and technological advancements in the modern world. Americans often enjoy the latest communication methods, disease treatment options, energy - efficiency improvement measures, and even more comfortable living conditions earlier.
Mathematics - the field Terence Tao is engaged in - although low - key, plays a crucial role. It is the common language of all sciences, enabling us to model and analyze complex systems with high precision. Scientific research is inherently risky:
Not every experiment can lead to new discoveries;
Not every model prediction can fully match reality;
Nor can every theoretical exploration path lead to practical applications.
However, the risk of failure (or "negative results") is an indispensable part of scientific exploration. It is better to identify the pros and cons of a technology in the laboratory, through computer simulations, or even through pen - and - paper deductions than to cause disasters due to technical errors in the real world.
In the past, although the US government has adjusted the priorities of scientific research projects, there has been a consensus:
Any policy adjustment should be advanced step by step and in accordance with laws and regulations.
This can minimize unnecessary interference and ensure the predictability of long - term planning and budgets.
In addition, although policymakers can set macro - goals and directions, the widely accepted principle is:
Resource allocation should mainly rely on peer review by experts, rather than the personal opinions or beliefs of politically - appointed individuals lacking a scientific background.
This is the successful and healthy scientific research ecosystem that Terence Tao has experienced in the past.
The new US government has, in just six months, almost systematically attacked and weakened almost all the pillars of this scientific research ecosystem.
Terence Tao admitted that the shock and frustration are indescribable.
Is the academic circle being blood - bathed? Is the US scientific research doomed?
With an unprecedented scale and speed, the White House has directly ordered the cancellation or suspension of scientific research funding. Dozens of billions of dollars' worth of ongoing research projects and experiments have been forced to be interrupted.
This is not because scientific reviews have made negative conclusions about the research, but often just for seemingly arbitrary reasons. Even the funding for key projects may be withdrawn just because a keyword now considered "inappropriate" appears in the original application.
These actions often bypass the proper due process, such as the right to respond to accusations or defend oneself.
The White House has forced universities to modify their internal policies to conform to the government's political priorities, which blatantly violates the long - standing tradition of limited government and individual freedom in the United States.
Public scientific research data and resources on the websites of US national scientific research institutions are also quietly disappearing, often without any explanation. Meanwhile, changes in federal immigration policies have made the situation difficult for foreign scientists studying or working in the United States:
It is becoming increasingly difficult for them to renew their visas, re - enter the country, and in some cases, they may even be investigated by the authorities just for performing their normal work duties.
This is not an ordinary policy adjustment, but a deliberate dismantling targeting the institutions, funds, and freedom that have sustained the development of American science for generations.
Nature magazine believes that the large - scale restructuring of the federal government by the new US White House administration has severely impacted scientific research institutions in the United States and globally.
UCLA is in big trouble, and IPAM is urgently raising funds online
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) has been severely hit by the chain effects of these measures, but it is by no means the only victim.
The National Science Foundation (NSF) has significantly cut many key scholarships and fellowships - these were originally used to train and inspire the next generation of top scientists, but now countless students and post - docs have lost the valuable early opportunities that their predecessors once had.
Many projects that have been approved and are in the process of receiving funding have suddenly been delayed or suspended, resulting in the suspension of scientific research plans and the interruption of the employment of students and researchers. Even if some of the funding has been partially restored due to the rapid intervention of the court, these disruptions may still cause critical gaps in data collection and even lead to the loss of contact with research subjects.
Terence Tao's personal scientific research funding has also been suspended in the recent actions against UCLA. To minimize the pressure on students, he has prioritized their summer funding, but he has not received the remuneration he deserves for his completed research work so far.
However, more serious than his personal loss is the threat to the survival of the Institute for Pure and Applied Mathematics (IPAM).
The institute had just received preliminary approval from the NSF to extend its funding for five years to support various projects and seminars in the upcoming academic year. However, all of the institute's funding sources (including the unused balance from the previous round of funding) were completely cut off overnight.
In the past few weeks, the institute's leadership and staff have been working desperately to conduct emergency fundraising.
IPAM, the top - notch mathematical temple in the United States, is facing a closure crisis. Terence Tao is raising funds for IPAM online.
Thanks to some generous and timely private donations, IPAM has managed to avoid the immediate crisis of shutting down, at least until the end of the year.
However, this "fire - fighting" mode of operation is by no means the normal state of a world - class scientific research institution.
Scientific research is about the future. Is the White House flying blindly like a "headless chicken"?
As UCLA Chancellor Julio Frenk said, scientific research funding is not a "handout", but a "national investment in the future".
Of course, federal funding in the United States is a privilege, not an inalienable right. Constitutionally, the US Congress does have the power to set budgets and rules for public funds and resources.
In the context of the huge expenditures of the entire federal government, the proportion used for scientific research is actually negligible. Take the Mathematical and Physical Sciences Directorate (MPS) under the National Science Foundation (NSF) as an example. Although it is the largest branch of the NSF, its annual budget is only about $1.7 billion.
This figure may seem substantial at first glance, but when divided among every US citizen, it is only about $5 per person per year, less than one - thousandth of the total federal budget.
More importantly, the return the public gets from these scientific research funds far exceeds the initial investment - because these results are not locked away by patents or corporate secrets but are open and shared with the whole society.
Predicting the path of extreme weather, navigating accurately across the country, or completing secure financial transactions on the Internet...
These abilities that we now take for granted ultimately stem from early basic scientific research, including mathematics. The progress of these studies has largely benefited from the cautious and continuous investment of federal scientific research institutions over the past few decades.
A recent important example is the life - saving mRNA vaccine. This breakthrough relied on the "Operation Warp Speed" led by the US government from 2020 - 2021.