U. of Pittsburgh pauses Ph.D. admissions amid research funding uncertainty

142 points by jslezak 4 months ago | 13 comments
  • tptacek 4 months ago
    See also: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43144940
    • dang 4 months ago
      Comments moved thither. Thanks!
      • therealcamino 4 months ago
        Just to be clear that's a similar story about a different university (University of Pennsylvania vs. University of Pittsburgh).
        • dang 4 months ago
          Yup: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43147872.

          If PA works like some other places I know, there would be something of a rivalry between those two schools, so it was a little unusual to see the two threads on the frontpage at the same time.

    • gnabgib 4 months ago
      Related, unfortunately Penn to reduce graduate admissions, rescind acceptances amid research cuts (94 points, 2 hours ago, 78 comments) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43144940
      • qgin 4 months ago
        University of Pittsburgh has consistently been one of the top 10 recipients of NIH funding for at least 25 years
        • AdieuToLogic 4 months ago
          > University of Pittsburgh has consistently been one of the top 10 recipients of NIH funding for at least 25 years

          Perhaps due to its research commitment[0]?

          0 - https://www.medschool.pitt.edu/research

          • JeremyNT 4 months ago
            Several swing states have high quality research institutions doing important work.

            North Carolina is another state where research was historically very important to the economy.

            Even if you don't think the US should fund as much research, this austerity approach is directly impacting the economies of many communities - and not all of them are in deep blue states.

            • quink 4 months ago
              And? What's the concern here, that they dare to do medical research?
              • qgin 4 months ago
                Not sure why people took my mentioning that stat as some kind of criticism.

                Here in Pittsburgh it’s a point of pride that Pitt has such a long running positive track record in medical research.

                I posted it to note how big of a deal NIH funding is to the University. Cutting NIH funding will have an outsize effect.

                • quink 4 months ago
                  Ah, fair enough, fair enough, it's hard to know these days and evidently in between all the other comments and the general mood, I guess a lot of people are in a very defensive stance at the moment.
            • mjfl 4 months ago
              As I’ve said in the Penn thread: this is likely a temporary move, intended to be used for rhetoric. Eventually the faculty will complain, because they rely on large pyramids of postdocs and grad students for almost all labor. There’s simply no way to continue the work of university research without a strong supply of grad students. Once this is realized, and the NIH doesn’t bend, then grad admissions will increase again, and admin cuts will start, as they should.
              • dang 4 months ago
                Please don't crosspost like this—it makes merging the threads a pain because we have to find the original post and then merge the replies.

                It's fine to link to another post, of course, and an email to hn@ycombinator.com is always appreciated if there are duelling dupes going on.