An award winning mathematician Terence Tao from UCLA got his funding cut by Trump

[dusters]

Hello.

As many may know, Trump has been cutting funding for science since start of this year. Now the cut has
reached University of California where widely believed best mathematician of our time teaches his PhD students.

His own blog entry can be read on this here

I’m an award-winning mathematician. Trump just cut my funding.

The “Mozart of Math” tried to stay out of politics. Then it came for his research.

newsletter.ofthebrave.org

Reddit post from r/math can be read here

https://www.reddit.com/r/math/comments/1mtr22j/im_an_award_winning_mathematician_trump_just_cut

He is widely considered not only the best mathematician currently alive, but he has been doing joint research with
huge amount of scientists around the world pushing math and applied math every year. He is a living legend. He is exploring and integrating
AI into bettering proofs for complex math problems. He is genuinely here for the science and it seems he doesn't care for either money or politics.


What to discuss.

Where shall he go? He is from Australia and of Hong Kong descent, so China could be an option.

Who can pay the best for science people leaving US? France? Any other EU country with high wages for scientists?

 

[Thorgalaeg]

Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland, UK, Sweden, Denmark... Spain probably not.

 

[Yeekim]

Safe to say this hurts the US more than the individual in question...

 

[EnglishEdward]

Found it in the article:

This is the successful and healthy research ecosystem that I have spent my professional career in, whether it was as a (successful or unsuccessful) applicant of a federal grant, a participant in a program run by a federally funded institute, a grant reviewer for a proposal by a scientific colleague, or as a member of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology during the Biden administration.

He's likely got identified as a Bidenite.

 

[GoodEnoughForMe]

Honestly don’t even think most Americans can begin to grasp the lost talent, intelligence, and research we have inflicted on not just ourselves, but the world.

 

[JollyRoger]

Math needs to solve its own problems

 

[Klaus Hergersheimer]

Found it in the article:



He's likely got identified as a Bidenite.

well it's sure not because science research takes up too large a percentage of the federal budget. There's always going to be a certain vindictiveness in any executive order.

 

[Birdjaguar]

well it's sure not because science research takes up too large a percentage of the federal budget. There's always going to be a certain vindictiveness in any executive order.

Project 2025 is Christian Nationalism and refutes science as a source of knowledge unless it can be aligned with the Bible. According to many Evangelicals, we are in the End Times so thinking and planning for future is a worthless exercise.

 

[IglooDame]

Project 2025 is Christian Nationalism and refutes science as a source of knowledge unless it can be aligned with the Bible. According to many Evangelicals, we are in the End Times so thinking and planning for future is a worthless exercise.

It's certainly led me to stop worrying about contributing to my 401k anymore.

 

[Birdjaguar]

Don't worry; be happy!

 

[Canadian Bluebeer]

Don't worry; be happy!

heh. That's what the fish on the wall says in Valheim.

 

[Birdjaguar]

heh. That's what the fish on the wall says in Valheim.

Interesting migration from an Indian guru to Bobby McFerrin song to fish in a video game.

 

[Canadian Bluebeer]

Interesting migration from an Indian guru to Bobby McFerrin song to fish in a video game.

Topic drift is an amazing thing.

 

[sylvanllewelyn]

well it's sure not because science research takes up too large a percentage of the federal budget.

The size might be small, but why should the US taxpayer give one dollar for theoretical knowledge that other countries can "free-ride"?

Can anyone create TikTok-sized video answers for dissemination?

But you're right. Pure mathematics is the most cost-effective way to spend funding. It is also surprisingly close to things that people care about, like bigger guns, stronger machines, and cheaper food.

 

[Klaus Hergersheimer]

The size might be small, but why should the US taxpayer give one dollar for theoretical knowledge that other countries can "free-ride"?

Can anyone create TikTok-sized video answers for dissemination?

But you're right. Pure mathematics is the most cost-effective way to spend funding. It is also surprisingly close to things that people care about, like bigger guns, stronger machines, and cheaper food.

I'm really not the best person to ask about how money should be spent, as I ultimately tend to lean toward the "minarchist" side of things. However, I think if we are going to spend money on research, I think it ought to be because if we do not then another country would develop a certain technology which would make us (the US) more dependent upon them and thus could present certain geopolitical implications which force us to spend even more to confront it. I do not think we should spend money because Terence Tao thinks he deserves it because look at how smart he is, etc.
...And though I'm sure reducing MRI scan times is something very valuable [I just had one recently!] the MRI machine is not some 'unexplored frontier' like the moon or nuclear power once were, so to speak...
But do I think it was right for the president to unilaterally cut his funding? Of course not. I think Tao should have his say for why his research is important.