The Trump administration's cuts to federal research funding have triggered a crisis in U.S. higher education, with universities halting research programs, closing labs, and laying off staff to cope with budget shortfalls.
Since taking office, President Donald Trump has authorized sweeping cuts to billions of dollars in federal grants and loans allocated to state, local, and tribal governments for disaster relief, education, transportation, and other essential programs.
Last month, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, announced a new policy to cut research funding, claiming it would save the federal government 4 billion U.S. dollars.
Johns Hopkins University announced last Thursday that it would cut over 2,000 jobs domestically and internationally due to federal funding cuts. In a statement, the university described it as a "difficult day," noting that affected programs include critical, life-saving work such as disease prevention. The Trump administration had previously terminated 800 million U.S. dollars in funding to the institution.
The federal government also canceled 400 million U.S. dollars in funding for Columbia University, citing the school’s mishandling of pro-Palestinian demonstrations. Columbia University responded by stating it would work with the government to restore funding. It remains unclear which research projects, programs, or activities will be affected.
Facing funding uncertainty, the University of Pennsylvania has reduced graduate student admissions by 35 percent; the University of Southern California has suspended enrollment for some doctoral programs; and Stanford University has frozen new staff hiring. Additionally, numerous research institutions have scaled back recruitment of postdoctoral researchers and research assistants.
The funding cuts have sparked strong opposition from the academic community. Organizations like the Association of American Universities and the American Council on Education issued a joint statement, warning that the policy would have a direct and severe impact on critical biomedical and health research nationwide.
US federal funding cuts force universities to halt research, lay off staff
Nearly 100 Taiwan-invested enterprises in east China's Xiamen City have participated in the city's digital transformation scheme for small and medium-sized enterprises, which significantly boosted production efficiency for the companies.
Xiamen is one of the inaugural cities in the country piloting the digital transformation of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The Taiwan-invested companies that signed up for digital upgrades covered a wide range of industries including electronic devices, power transmission and distribution and medical instruments.
In the production workshop of a Taiwan-funded circuit board company, digital screens display real-time operations, intelligent robots transport materials, and automatic pickers can quickly match the missing raw materials in the production process. A seven-step production line requires only four technicians.
"They guided us in the digital system construction, process transformation, and some intelligent analysis. Our production efficiency has improved by about 10 percent to 15 percent," said Yang Zhijian, factory director of Junling Electronics (Xiamen) Company.
Some Taiwan-funded enterprises are also actively promoting the digital transformation of the industrial chain and supply chain.
"We have assisted more than 30 enterprises to complete digital assessment, and more than 20 enterprises to finish special transformation, effectively helping enterprises to solve the problems of low production efficiency and quality control," said Li Yong, consulting director of Youda Zhihui Intelligent Manufacturing (Xiamen) Company.
According to statistics, the average production cost after the transformation is reduced by 15 percent, and the management efficiency is also greatly improved.
"We are also encouraging these [digital] service providers to go global and take advantage of cross-strait exchanges and BRICS relations to help companies go overseas. We will also specifically organize supply and demand matching meetings between service providers and Taiwan-funded enterprises," said Song Luwen, director of Department of Small and Medium Enterprises under Xiamen Municipal Bureau of Industry and Information Technology.
Taiwan enterprises benefit from mainland's digital transformation
Taiwan enterprises benefit from mainland's digital transformation
