Post #3629000

2026-07-06 13:44 UTC

@SteveBellovin@infosec.exchange I think most non-academics don’t appreciate how tightly coupled PhD enrollment is to current federal funding. In most departments, even at “rich” schools, there’s very little institutional funding for supporting graduate students. Student costs are overwhelmingly paid out of current research grants, which are typically for a shorter duration than it takes to complete a PhD. So faculty are on a constant grant treadmill to fund their students.

Replies (4)

@mattblaze@federate.social 2026-07-06 13:46

@SteveBellovin@infosec.exchange So any disruption in federal research funding has almost immediate effect on the PhD production pipeline.

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@meltedcheese@c.im 2026-07-06 16:19

@mattblaze@federate.social @SRDas@mastodon.online @SteveBellovin@infosec.exchange As a program officer making scientific grants, I was acutely aware of the grad student funding dilemma. Whenever possible, on a site visit for example, I took time to meet with grad students. They are often doing a great deal of the work, have lots of ideas, and a very likely the people you want to respond to future Requests for Proposals. When I decided to fund a proposal, I always included language that indicated intent to extend a grant/contract “subject to available funds”, progress, etc. and I followed through. I got criticized for this in my organization for a variety of reasons but never reversed. Here is the reason why: I spent the sponsors’ (NASA, DARPA, other government tech programs) money “wisely.” That meant I “delivered high quality research results.” I attribute this to the effort I made to forge mutual understanding and trust with PIs, communication, enthusiasm, and reciprocal personal commitments to excellence. To professors and grad students who are writing and working on grants, I highly recommend getting to know the program officer for an RFP and exactly what they hope to achieve. This kind of clarity means a better proposal for everyone’s benefit. When sponsored research funds are under extreme pressure as they are today, it could make the critical difference for acceptance of your proposal. Good luck to all of you, and remember that luck favors the well-prepared.

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@rrb@infosec.exchange 2026-07-06 16:27

@mattblaze@federate.social @SteveBellovin@infosec.exchange I've known departments to refuse to let in self-funded PhD students. This annoyed me, since I enrolled in my PhD studies on my own dime. (OK, that lasted maybe 2 weeks after I was physically on campus. But, still.)

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@ktoddbrown@social.coop 2026-07-06 16:43

@mattblaze@federate.social @SteveBellovin@infosec.exchange I'm at a massive R1 state university and ALL PhD students at my department are grant funded by their PIs or have their own funding. If I don't get grants, I don't have PhD students. Grants often run only 3 years but students often take 5+ to graduate in my field. Piecing together funding is getting harder then it was in the BeforeTimes from what I understand. I just graduated my first PhD student and my current cohort should be done in the next year or so. Frankly I'm not sure I'll take on more students now that I have tenure. Between the burnout and the grant crunch, I'm feeling a bit fried.

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