By Piper Hutchinson
Louisiana Illuminator
Louisiana would be among the states hardest hit by the indefinite pause of funding from the National Science Foundation, with higher education leaders warning of catastrophic impacts to students and the economy.
According to an internal memo exclusively reported by Nature, the National Science Foundation, one of the top federal funders of scientific research at Louisiana universities, is pausing funding of all existing grants and will stop awarding new grants. The agency announced it will also slash its indirect cost rate to 15%, joining the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Energy in doing so. Those cuts will result in tens of millions of dollars in loss for Louisiana universities.