I read somewhere that on the list of majors with the lowest unemployment on graduation, number 3 is math. A number of scientific majors allow a double major with applied math. That’s what I would do. But, in the interests of full disclosure, I am a math nerd even at the age of 70.
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She wants to study public health.
My son is just starting a PhD in math, but not the readily employable kind. Today he told us about the “supercool” grad research he will be involved in this summer - Derived satake map and deriving the classical categorical equivalence between G reps and modules over the hecke algebra for an Iwahori.
He loves pure math and wants to always be part of that publishing research community, even if it may not be possible as a professor. He realizes that he will need to keep his other skills strong (cs, ai - he is working for a startup using these skills now) to be employable.
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MIT is reporting a 20% drop in the amount of research being conducted by faculty at the institution compared to 2024 and a 20% drop in the number of grad students being accepted across the board in all programs. 20 % is about 500 students/year.
MIT President Sally Kornbluth blames the cuts on severely reduced federal funding, the new steep tax on endowment returns and a federal immigration policies that have prevented/discouraged foreign students from coming to US to study.
Funding cuts have affected scientists at all stages of their careers. It’s not just young scientists starting out in their careers. Senior researchers with long successful track records are having to cut grad students, post-doc fellows and entire research programs.
The fact is that we’re looking at a real drop in research being done by the people of MIT," Kornbluth said. “When you shrink the pipeline of basic discovery research, you choke off the flow of future solutions, innovations, and cures — and [you shrink the supply of future scientists]
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Sending you a PM.
About 58% of physician-scientists are considering leaving academic medicine in the next two years, and 44% are looking at moving abroad, according to a New Haven, Conn.-based Yale School of Medicine survey.
The study, published in the preparing server medRxiv, surveyed 175 early-career physician-scientists at 110 academic centers.
“Early-career physician-scientists face substantial structural and financial challenges, with limited institutional support, high rates of burnout and widespread intent to leave academia,” the study authors wrote. “These findings underscore an urgent need for sustained investment, targeted retention strategies, and policy reforms to stabilize and strengthen the physician-scientist workforce in the United States.”
About 82% of participants said there was over a 50% probability that they will leave academic medicine within five years. The most cited reasons were funding challenges (72%), low compensation (42.3%), feeling unhappy or stressed (40.6%), and burnout (37.7%).
Additionally, nearly half of respondents said they are considering moving outside the U.S. for better academic working conditions and 10.4% have already been contacted by institutions in other countries.
The greatest work difficulties reported were balancing clinical, research and educational responsibilities (72.5%), balancing work and family (48.0%), limited funding (48.0%) and low compensation (34.3%).
A total of 51.8% of physician-scientists said their outlook on academic medicine was very or somewhat pessimistic.
Among respondents, 74% said they dedicate at least 50% of their time to research. In total, 25.7% are pursuing mainly basic science, 30.3% are pursuing translational research and 25.1% are pursuing clinical research.
Physician-scientists said their greatest concerns for the future research were health disparities (76%), vaccines (70.3%), and diversity, equity and inclusion (62.9%).
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Political appointees, not science experts will now decide which grants get funded,
Projects must – quote – “demonstrably advance the president’s policy priorities.” And, in a major change, political appointees, not necessarily subject matter experts, would be required to give the final OK before money is awarded.
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Reminder that this thread is in the parents forum. Factual articles can be shared but political opinions/discussions need to be shared in the political forum. TIA.
Diabetes researchers were forcibly removed under threat of arrest by police officers from a national diabetes meeting for passing out copies of a journal editorial critical of the Trump administration NIH funding policies.
NIH secretary Jay Bhattacharya was supposed to present a keynote speech at the conference but was a last minute no show.
The scientists were stripped of their meeting credentials and told they were not allowed to return to present their scheduled lectures and paper presentations.
The editorial was published by the leading journal of the American Diabetes Association.
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This is completely outrageous.
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“The diabetes association wrote in an email to Kahn hours later that his behavior violated the conference’s code of conduct and that officials had “no choice” but to remove him from the meeting. The code of conduct “expects that all participants will conduct themselves in a professional and respectful manner,” the association’s executive team wrote.
“For the safety of everyone, we must take all demonstrations seriously,” said the email, which Kahn shared with The Seattle Times.The association told Kahn he would not be allowed to participate in the rest of the conference.
“We appreciate the years of service and leadership you have provided to the ADA and those who we serve, and we regret that it came to this,” the email said.
The American Diabetes Association did not respond to a request for additional comment Friday.
Kahn called the association’s move a “serious mistake.”
“The easy thing to do is just let people hand out the pamphlets and make no big deal out of it,” Kahn said. “It just seems to me that whatever they thought they should do, they didn’t really consider the consequences of their actions.”
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This is disgraceful.
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ADA has apologized:
“The ADA has now issued that apology.
In a three-minute video, the association’s CEO, Charles “Chuck” Henderson, apologized to Drs. Steven E. Kahn, Desmond Schatz, Aaron Kelly, Maureen Gannon and Justin Ryder, who were escorted out of the ADA’s 2026 Scientific Sessions in New Orleans on June 5 by police and security personnel.
Regardless of the circumstances that led to those events, I recognize the impact that experience had on each of you," Henderson said on Wednesday. “I am deeply sorry for the hurt, frustration and the pain that resulted.”
He also apologized to the broader diabetes community of researchers and physicians. “I know that trust, once shaken, must be earned back through actions and not just words,” said Henderson, whose background is primarily in sales, marketing and fundraising.
He said the ADA would commission an independent review of the episode, make the findings public and identify ways to prevent similar incidents. He also reaffirmed the ADA’s support for diabetes research and for robust funding from the National Institutes of Health.
“The ADA remains unwavering in our commitment to science,” Henderson said.“
Good. That’s a start!
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Getting worse and worse. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/22/us/politics/trump-research-funding-artificial-intelligence.html
AI- and Corporate-centric approach. WH statements that they intend to move away research focus from things like basic research in the life sciences including molecular, genetics, etc.
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The article is paywalled….couldn’t bring myself to keep reading the WH report after intro by 
……
D23 will be applying to PhD programs in biology this fall - these poor kids……
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