Top US scientist of Indian-origin quits after DOGE hatchet slashes science

Image credit score: ASU’s web site

The TOI correspondent from Washington: A prime US scientist of Indian-origin resigned because the Director of the National Science Foundation (NSF), whose $ 9 billion funds funds life-changing analysis in America, amid allegations that the MAGA-infused Trump administration is gutting science and analysis within the nation.
Sethuraman Panchanathan, an alumnus of IIT, Chennai, and Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, resigned with 16 months to go earlier than the tip of his six-year time period, saying “I believe I have done all I can to advance the mission of the agency and feel that it is time for me to pass the baton to new leadership.”
“Panch” as he’s popularly recognized amongst colleagues, didn’t delve into causes for his departure, however the broad take-away in scientific circles from his all-staff memo is that he stop because of frustration over White House stress to chop NSF’s $9 billion annual funds and cull the company’s 1,700-person employees.
“This is a pivotal moment for our nation in terms of global competitiveness. NSF is an extremely important investment to make US scientific dominance a reality. We must not lose our competitive edge,” Dr Panchanathan urged within the memo, even because the Trump/Musk DOGE hatchet hacked at what they take into account to be bloated expenditure that funds DEI priorities and non-essential analysis.
The NSF has deep ties with Indian establishments such because the Department of Science and Technology and lots of universities, collaborating in areas like communications, semiconductors, cyberinfrastructure, safe computing, and inexperienced know-how, directing hundreds of thousands of {dollars} to joint analysis. Although NSF doesn’t instantly fund Indian researchers or establishments, it channels grants to US researchers collaborating with Indian counterparts.
Panchanathan was a key driver of 2023 US-India Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies that was signed within the White House. Although he was appointed to the publish by President Trump throughout his first time period, the NSF, like many storied American establishments, is working aground because the Trump-Musk credo of eliminating “waste and fraud” is drying up funding.
As with many establishments, together with its companion National Institute of Health (NIH), DOGE groups of younger whippersnappers are stated to have bodily infiltrated into the NSF headquarters earlier this month, demanding accountability from senior management who they consider have lengthy had a “free run.”
According to at least one account, the NSF was directed to terminate over $1 billion in grants and halt new awards that conflicted with President Trump’s government orders referring to range, fairness, and inclusion (DEI), clashing instantly, given his personal background, with Panchanathan’s priorities resembling growing range in analysis.
Born and raised in Chennai, Dr Panchanathan accomplished his B.SC in Vivekananda College and MSc and MTech at IISC and IIT respectively earlier than coming to Canada for his PhD and later transferring to US the place he has rose quickly in scientific, profitable reward for his work in assistive and rehabilitative applied sciences, ubiquitous computing environments for people with disabilities, haptic person interfaces, and face/gait evaluation and recognition. Among the start-ups he co-founded are MotionEase Inc. and RehabDev LLC, each targeted on rehabilitative applied sciences.