Center of Science and Technology being evaluated due to budget constraints

Princeton is evaluating the future of the Center on Science and Technology as part of broader University budget reductions, with administrators considering a reorganization that could shift parts of the center’s work to other campus units.

On Wednesday, staff and faculty of the StudioLab, a creative technology space operated by the Center on Science and Technology received an email from the StudioLab manager, Brendan Byrne, informing employees that University budget cuts will impact the CST. 

In an email obtained by The Daily Princetonian, Byrne wrote that further University budget cuts will be made and that the CST will “experience a reorganization in the coming months.” 

Following the suspension of several federal research grants in April 2025, the University has issued budget cuts across several departments. 

“Employment at StudioLab is 100% secure until June 30, 2027 (the end of the fiscal year),” he wrote. “Your shift hours will not be reduced, and our services will function normally.”

“We are examining the Center on Science and Technology in the context of the Provost’s request that all campus units think carefully and deliberately about transitioning to a new and more sustainable budget model,” Dean of the College Michael Gordin wrote in a statement to the ‘Prince.’ The Center on Science and Technology is overseen by the Office of the Dean of the College.

Gordin explained that no decisions have been made yet, but in the next several months the CST’s work and mission will be reviewed focusing on “how the most important components of this work can continue, perhaps through new or expanded partnerships with existing campus units.” 

Aside from StudioLab, the CST offers several courses each semester crosslisted across 14 different departments and programs that fulfill five out of eight distribution requirements. 

This academic year, 17 courses are being offered crosslisted by the CST under the Science and Technology Center designation. 

Gordin wrote that “all CST programming and the STC-related teaching will continue as planned this academic year.” 

The mission of the CST is to broadly “advance STEM literacy” across the University through courses, programming, and educational research. Gordin explained that the College will “continue to support transformative STEM teaching, both within and across divisions, and to prepare students to communicate scientific research in compelling ways to [a] broad public audience.”

Penelope Georges, associate director of STEM Initiatives in the center, reflected on the unique mission and accomplishments the CST represents in a statement to the ‘Prince.’ “The CST has built something very distinctive over its 36+ years serving the campus that includes interdisciplinary courses…immersive learning experiences in and outside the classroom, and direction for the CST StudioLab,” she wrote. 

Ecology and evolutionary biology professor Mary Caswell Stoddard, director of the CST, also spoke on the interdisciplinary nature of the center in a statement to the ‘Prince.’ “Through its critical work in STEM literacy, science communication and interdisciplinary engagement—and through the one-of-a-kind StudioLab—the CST has made an extraordinary contribution to our campus and the broader community,” she wrote. 

Cynthia Torres is a senior News writer and Archives contributor. She is from New Bedford, Mass. and can be reached at ctorres[at]dailyprincetonian.com.

Sena Chang contributed reporting. 

Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.