When a professor applies for funding, say two students and his summer salary, he asks for 200K.
But the NIH funding request will be 400K, because the school will take 200 K as overhead.
The school use this money to do whatever they want.
But if NIH feed the school too well, the school will tell the professor only his 3 month salary is guaranteed - he must find the rest of his salary from NIH. Basically the school used to pay 9 month salary guaranteed - now the professor is just a contractor to the school. The professor is a slave.
This is corrupt abuse of tax payer money. This is what we are talking about here.
So you need to spend 60 cents to spend $1? Why not give every tax payer 60 cents for each dollar they earn and reduce the taxable income to only 40 cents on $1? F*cking stupid wasteful government.
One time I talked to George Whiteside, the editor in chief of Science. I asked him that I can not repeat something in his paper and asked for his help. He said "Oh, we did not include some details".
This is called "having the cake and eat it too".
Professors are poor people and they pursue science. Great. But schools (typically ran by Jews) are not nice. This NIH change is for the schools, not the scientists.
I am a MAGA. I was a professor for 25 years in US university. The overhead is totally for the school "hosting" the grant. Schools REDUCE their share of professor salary and drive professors to pay themselves using NIH funding. For example, most NIH schools pay professors only 3 or 6 months. The schools should pay the professors nine month and let them do research instead of wasting all the time writing grants.
The overhead rate is TOO HIGH. This feed the bureaucrats at schools instead of scientist. Nothing wrong with this change. This is supporting Science, not reducing it.
The overhead is what the schools charge the government for "hosting" the grant. It is total unrelated. Schools actually drop Professors's salary in hope that NIH covers their salary.