So what are you going to do if you’re a scientist in the middle of an experiment and your university tells you that you have to take a few days of unpaid leave because of budget cuts?
Come into work anyway. At least that’s what some professors faced with furlough days are saying, according to this item in The Scientist.
Many experiments need constant monitoring, they argue, and it’s not worth taking a day off if it means jeopardizing months and months of work, the researchers said.
This will definitely be an issue in California where both the University of California and California State University systems are implementing furlough programs.
I’ve been trying in recent days to get a sense of what the budget cuts will mean to research in San Diego. The folks in the communication departments at both University of California, San Diego and San Diego State University say it is too early to provide a department-by-department breakdown of the cuts. I’m pushing them to come up with those numbers.
In the meantime please let me know of other questions I should be asking and the places — in terms of research — where the budget cuts will be felt in San Diego. Shoot me an e-mail at: david.washburn@voiceofsandiego.org.