Budget cuts delay neuroscience building

When the University unveiled its $1.75 billion capital campaign in November 2007, it allocated $300 million to the construction of a new neuroscience facility.

Some neuroscience professors and students said they were disappointed by the delay, but several members of the program added that they do not yet feel that they are affected by the economic downturn.

Molecular biology and physics professor David Tank, who co-directs the Princeton Neuroscience Institute, said he was hoping the new building would provide new lab space and bring together associated faculty.

“We would like to grow our faculty in the area,” Tank said, “and this cannot be done without laboratory space for them.”

Still, the institute, which this year implemented a Ph.D. program in neuroscience, remains strong, Tank added.

“The financial crisis is slowing down the development of the ... institute, but it is not stopping or abandoning it,” Tank noted, adding that the institute is focusing on creating two new graduate courses that will form the core of the new Ph.D. program.

Tank said that though the construction delay would leave the neuroscience department unable to significantly add to its current faculty, the department was successful in hiring two new members this year. He added that the institute has hired four new faculty members in the past four years and has found space for them all.

Though the University’s budget cuts forced a delay in the construction of the new building, the specter of financial woes has not significantly affected funding for other parts of the institute. Tank explained that the two National Institutes of Health grants for the neuroscience graduate program have enabled it to fully develop the new Ph.D. program.

Matt Weber, a fifth-year graduate student in the psychology department and the neuroscience program, added that he has had only “minimal” exposure to funding problems.

“Neuroscience is a biomedical thing,” he said. “There’s big money available.” Weber himself is funded by a National Science Foundation research fellowship that covers both his stipend and tuition. In his department, Weber said, external funding is quite common: In a typical class of 10 students, one or two get grants.

Other students, Weber said, may be covered by an adviser’s grant or may teach to cover their stipends.

“Getting an assistantship in instruction hasn’t been any sort of problem for us,” he said.

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Obtaining funding has not been a problem for undergraduate students, either. Daniel Watford ‘09, who is pursuing a neuroscience certificate, has had his thesis research completely covered by the University’s general college fund. Watford said that the fund is the largest of several sources that undergraduates can approach for funding.

Though Watford said his funding was approved before the financial crisis worsened last year, Hilary Lambert ‘10, who will apply for funding this year, said she is still optimistic.

“The University’s pretty generous ... [and] really tries to support us,” Lambert said. “I haven’t really felt like I’m limited in what I can research because of the grant money.”

Though Lambert said she thinks the University will continue to offer sufficient funding for research, she also said she is concerned that outside funding may decrease. Many of the grants the neuroscience institute receives are for specific types of research: Lambert noted that Campbell’s Soup funded a study on salt addiction last year. As companies are pressured more and more by the economic environment, their willingness to allocate funds for research of this sort may also wither, Lambert explained.

Lambert, however, noted that “[her] advisor seems pretty optimistic. He’s still pursuing the same experiments he’s always done.”

Though Lambert said that she was “frustrated” by the delay in the construction of the neuroscience building, she said she is pleased that the University continues to support the program.

“I’m glad there’s a focus on neuroscience to begin with,” she said. “I don’t hold any grudges … as long as it’s done eventually, so that students can use it.”

Watford said he agreed. “People are interested in neuroscience not because they’re getting a new building,” he said. “I think they’re legitimately interested in the brain and how it works. I don’t think the neuroscience program has to worry about losing interest.”