The Trump administration’s plan to slash $4.7 billion from the National Science Foundation, eliminate the National Endowment for the Humanities and Arts, and cap National Institutes of Health indirect costs at 15% has left students anxious
According to the UCLA student newspaper, the Daily Bruin, student researchers at UCLA are navigating uncertain futures amid proposed federal funding cuts.
The Trump administration’s plan to slash $4.7 billion from the National Science Foundation’s $9 billion budget, eliminate the National Endowment for the Humanities and Arts ($207 million each), and cap National Institutes of Health indirect costs at 15%—despite a blocked ruling now under appeal—has left students anxious.
Neuroscience doctoral student Leonardo Dionisio, researching Huntington’s disease therapies, delayed his dissertation from August to December due to funding uncertainties, even considering international job prospects. “I’m a little bit angry and a little bit worried,” he told the Daily Bruin. Sierra Talbert, a library and information studies doctoral student studying AI’s ethical impact, fears reduced diversity among PhD students, planning to pivot toward computer-science roles amid uncertain DEI funding.
Fourth-year chemical engineering student Katelyn Lyle, funded by the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (reduced from 2,000 to 1,500 awards for 2025-2026), expressed concern over shifts from sustainable research to fracking. “It does make me nervous,” she told the student newspaper, highlighting risks to technological innovation.
