Why Scientists Are Smiling

Thanks to the newly signed economic stimulus bill – billions of dollars in grants will go to research around the country. San Diego is poised to get a large piece of that pie.

The National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation will be handing out a total of $13 billion dollars over the next two years.

The money isn't here yet, and local researchers really don't know how much they'll get, but they're hopeful it will be significant.

San Diego is a traditional powerhouse,” said David Washburn from our media partner voiceofsandiego.org. “Last year the NIH granted about $800 million to San Diego -- more than all but seven states.”

In his article, Washburn reports UCSD alone received $334 million in NIH funding. That’s more than both Virginia and Colorado.

Beyond UCSD, the largest recipients include The Scripps Research Institute, Salk Institute for Biological Studies, Burnham Institute for Medical Research and San Diego State University, according to voiceofsandiego.

“There’s a lot of uncertainty. The government agencies themselves don’t know how they’re going to dole it out,” said Washburn.

Getting the grants is one concern but there’s also the issue of completing the research within the timelines of the grants.

“Scientific research is usually longer than two years,” said Washburn. He said many institutions are writing grants hoping the research will be completed before the funding dries up.

Read Washburn’s article on voiceofsandiego.org.

Contact Us