[[I'm glad to see that the doctoral students are interested in the SI budget, and appreciate whomever posted these notes taking the time to do so. Because many people are currently very concerned about the budget situation, I thought it was important to correct a few misconceptions on this page. --mep]]

[[[Since I believe I'm the one being quoted here, let me also add my two cents. Tom]]]

Q: what is the impact of the administration change
A: Little change in the next 3 years. Obama believes foundation research is vital to the society, but it won’t help too much if the economy is not that good and there are other priorities. The directors of NSF or other institutions might change, and thus influencing policymaking. Conclusion: near term forecast (3 years) expects no funding growth.
[[Actually, there's enormous uncertainty in the federal budget right now; I wouldn't draw any conclusions one way or the other.]]

[[[My point was that according to analysis by the AAAS, as reported in the late fall 2008, there is little expectation for significant real growth in the level of federal funding for basic research over the first years of the Obama administration. This is conditioned on a number of assumptions, some of which I mentioned (continuing wars in Iraq and Afgahnistan, costs of recovery from natural disasters, costs of economic downturns) -- change in any of these assumptions could dramatically alter the prospects for federal funding. Additionally, the final outcome of the economic stimulus package could have a significant one-time positive impact on funding.]]]

Q: what’s the impact of the financial crisis.
A: Financial crisis is real. Endowment is down. But the U has a buffer. Michigan is already in recession, and has the experience to cope with things. We don’t have much money from the state, and thus not very dependant on the state economy. 3% cut in salary is very likely, but PhD students and faculties are protected. Admin budget is cut (fewer free lunch, travel expenses cut, etc.). Funding is pretty secure for PhDs. SI annual budget: 12-15 millions.
[[It is *not* true that a 3% cut in salary is likely. At present we are planning for a very modest salary increase, but because of the finanical uncertainty, we cannot at this time make any guarantees about the amount. However, no one is currently thinking about salary cuts. Also, as stated, funding for Ph.D. students is secure. As is the case with nearly all investments, the endowment has decreased over the past year, but we are not as reliant on endowment funds as private universities are. We do, however, rely on state funding and we are likely to see cuts there.]]

[[[My observation here was that the UM goes through an annual budget exercise reflecting a range of assumptions about growth or decline -- I didn't say anything about salaries. I did mention that the central administration does like to see overall scenarios oriented around target numbers, such as a 3% overall increase or a 3% overall decrease. I believe this was misinterpreted as a comment about salaries. The only thing I said about salaries is that there is uncertainty about the extent of any salary increases.]]]


Q: why should we care for funding program?
A: Because everything is paid for by funding. Down the road, PhDs are only funded by GSI/GSRA. No such things as “SI fellowship”, except for 1st and 2nd years.
[[Ph.D. students are paid in different ways. Some are paid out SI "base funding": this includes students on SI fellowships (mainly first-year students) and students who are teaching. Others are paid from research grants that faculty members obtain from sources such as the NSF or the IMLS. A small number of students are paid by externally funded fellowships. We made the transition to the current funding model, in which Ph.D. students are either on research grants or teaching after their first year, well before the current economic downturn; the decision to move to that model is not related to the current budget situation.]]

[[[I also noted that PhD students can be funded by outside fellowships, such as NSF Graduate Research Fellowships, Javits, IBM and others -- I noted these specifically because we've had recent examples at SI.]]]

Q: what’s the difference between different funding?
A: It comes from different sources. National institutes: NSF, DoD, etc. Private foundations: Kellogg, etc., which are more focused in certain areas (to apply for their funding, we need to have common interests with theirs). Corporations: Microsoft Research, Yahoo Research, internship, etc. The University: Rackham, Provost office, etc. Niches: alumni center, professional societies, etc. In SI, Sue, Marianne know a lot about funding opportunities.

Q: what is a cost of a graduate student?
A: PhD total – 78K per year (including tuition, stipend, overhead, etc.). Post-doc: 50K per year. Some faculties might prefer post doc than phds. [[These numbers aren't accurate. Doctoral students cost less than stated; post-doc salaries vary widely, but in general once benefits are paid will cost more than stated.]]

[[[What I said is that my usual heuristic for calculating the cost of a doctoral student within SI is about $65 K, which is the cost including stipend, tuition, fringe benefits, and indirect cost, assuming a 12 mos. appointment at .5 effort. This is for approximation only, the true costs are available from the SI research wiki. My main point was that doctoral students are an important investment that should not be taken lightly. I believe it is the case that some faculty make a calculation that for some kinds of research projects, a postdoctoral fellow is a better investment than a doctoral student. Depending on the training and experience level of the post-doc candidate, there can be very little difference in the cost to a project for choosing a doctoral student VS. a post-doc.]]]

Q: is there incentive for faculties to get us out faster?
A: In the annual report, students graduated rate is a factor. But the dominated factor is research outcome. But the U and the school don’t want student to graduate too late because of human cost. General time to completion in SI is 4-5 years.
[[The reason to encourage students to complete their degrees in a timely fashion is because it benefits them to learn to make steady progress on a research project (their dissertation) and to get out and do their own research and teaching sooner rather than later.]]

Q: where’s the funding comes from?
A: The root is us, the tax payers. You can write to Congress man who represents you, and really make some change! The US tax payers pay the international students because in the long run, this is good for the well being of Americans too.
[[Funding for SI comes from several sources: tuition, state funding, research grants, and endowment and gifts. State funding is of course ultimately from the taxpayers of Michigan. Much of the funding we receive in research grants is from federal agencies, and so that is also provided by taxpayers. But other research comes from corporations, and of course endowment and gift money comes from private individuals who chose to make a contribution to the school.]]

[[[This question was specific to research funding, and not SI generally. In terms of research conducted at SI, state funding plays little or no direct role, but is important as a source of support for the larger institution. Specific research funding at SI relies heavily on federal, corporate, foundation, and university resources -- largely in that order. About 80% of sponsored research at SI is supported by federal awards.]]]