As the National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding remains in limbo after President Donald Trump ordered a freeze on federal grants in February, over 300 protesters gathered outside the Wisconsin state Capitol Friday for a Stand Up for Science rally to advocate for a lift on the NIH funding freeze and increased support for scientific research.
“What do we want? Science. How do we want it? Funded,” the crowd chanted between sets of speakers, each advocating for a different field of research.
University of Wisconsin-Madison received over $465 million in funding from the NIH in 2023. The university ranks sixth out of 920 universities in research expenditures, according to the National Science Foundation’s annual rankings.
Of its over $1.7 billion in research expenses, UW-Madison spent almost 50% on indirect costs like laboratory expenses and building upkeep. The reduction of UW-Madison’s contractual NIH upkeep funding — which Trump's policies would limit to 15% — would eliminate approximately $65 million in NIH funding this year.
Some protesters held up signs highlighting the good the scientific community has done for them, while others decried Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency.
“Today and every day, you and I must stand up for science,” one protester said. “Your voice may seem like only one, but remember, our voices are coupled – linked together – and together, we will be heard.”
Lisa Stewart, a cancer survivor, spoke of her experience fighting cancer with the help of UW Health doctors, highlighting how without the help of modern science and its funding, she wouldn’t be alive today.
Mitch Breunig, the owner of Mystic Valley Dairy, highlighted scientific innovations in dairy made by Dr. Steven Babcock at UW-Madison and alluded to Madison’s reputation as “the birthplace of the green revolution.” He also spoke on how cutting scientific research would affect the dairy industry.
The next protesters to speak highlighted science’s benefit to Wisconsin’s community and economy.
“Science is the engine that is driving Wisconsin’s economy,” said Haley, a Ph.D. candidate studying DNA replication.
Haley and two other graduate students spoke at length about the benefits science and scientific research pay forwards to Wisconsin, citing the dairy industry’s $52.8 billion yearly contribution to Wisconsin’s economy among other industries and life-saving procedures backed by science.
“All the diseases we study do not discriminate based on race, gender, money or political party,” said Cheryl Stucky, a researcher at the Medical College of Wisconsin, emphasizing the fact that NIH funding contributed to research present in over 99% of all medications approved between 2010 and 2019.
“[The net funding of NIH] is tiny, but the costs from cutting this budget will be huge. It will devastate our legacy and our future generations,” Stucky said.
Jo Handelsman, the director of the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery, also spoke at the rally. She urged attendees to “band together” to demand change, a process she said required “persistence and tenacity” in the face of bureaucratic opposition.
When asked about her stance on UW-Madison’s recent proposal to lower the amount of future admitted graduate students in the wake of NIH’s funding freeze, Handelsman said she supported the decision wholeheartedly.
“We don't want to make false commitments to graduate students. We want to, first and foremost, support the students who are already here,” Handelsman told The Daily Cardinal.
