ROCHESTER, N.Y. —As the Trump Administration continues to put funding for scientific research programs under the microscope, local universities, including the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), are finding some long-standing programs funded by the feds are not being renewed. 

For nearly a decade, the “Research Experience for Undergraduates” (REU) program at RIT has allowed students from smaller colleges and universities to spend 10 weeks over the summer on campus working with research teams in their chosen field and doing their own research projects.

Sarah Abdo participated in the STEM Education REU at RIT a few years ago, “For me, it had provided me with the opportunity to find out who I am as a scientist and a researcher,” she tells News10NBC.

Late last week, RIT found out its STEM Education REU grant was not being renewed.  “To lose the REU program or to have a significant reduction in REU programs, even just for one summer is hundreds of students losing an opportunity for training in STEM,” explains Professor Tony Wong, who is the co-leader of that REU program at RIT, “we’re talking about really critical areas like artificial intelligence, computing, quantum information science, biotechnology, these are all national priorities as recent as last week, there have been memos from the White House affirming our commitment to them,” he added in frustration. 

The National Science Foundation funds a number of REU programs across different disciplines at 1,300 institutions across the country.  Each program is funded in a 3-year cycle.  Other REU programs at RIT that are in the middle of funding cycles will continue this summer.

A spokesman for the NSF tells News10NBC, “The REU program, like most NSF programs, is highly competitive, and most proposals are declined. Funding is limited and many proposals with considerable merit are declined. In most years, NSF can fund 25%-30% of proposals it receives. Contrary to reporting in other media outlets, NSF has not made any cuts to the REU program.”

Despite RIT’s STEM Education REU program being funded for three, 3-year cycles in the last decade, this year it was not selected, “you can bet that other countries that have prioritized AI or bio-technology, this is all stuff that is just at the bleeding edge of science and to lose opportunities at this moment is puzzling,” Professor Wong says. 

RIT is not alone in facing this challenge. Several top-tier schools, including Ivy League institutions, did not have their REU funding renewed or are still waiting for responses.

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