<p>Right. Scientists running labs bring money from outside. My impression is that since 2008, sources for that sort of funding have really dried up. I also have the impression things are really difficult right now. Maybe I am mistaken? It won’t be the first time. An acquaintance, who had run a lab for more than 20 years, was let go by his university around 2008. He still had a grant but they eliminated his university funding and essentially cut his department - as I understand it. Somehow it saved the university money. I hear a lot about funding challenges and decreasing numbers of positions for scientists at universities. If the outside funding is going away, universities won’t be able to count on it any longer.</p>
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<p>^from your link</p>
<p>adding: juillet and QuantMech are posting the sort of discussion I am familiar with over on the STEM surplus thread right now. Post docs and adjuncts and low salaries and the impact on all of us.</p>