Chasing the stimulus dollars for Arizona science

The editorial in today's Arizona Republic exhorts state leaders to aggressively seek federal economic stimulus money, especially in science areas. The paper said, "Arizona must be a contender. We need to be more visible, more focused and more plugged in."

This follows on a Battelle report released last week that Arizona was falling behind comparable states in science and technology areas, that are recognized as key contributors to economic growth.

The editorial noted how poorly science is faring in Arizona due to budget cuts: "The 2009 midyear budget fix and the proposed cuts for 2010 include scorched-earth funding that sends bad signals about Arizona's priorities. The universities took debilitating hits. Science Foundation Arizona, our own forward-looking public-private partnership, lost all its state money

The funding possibilities are enormous. And many play to Arizona's potential, from $4.5 billion for smart-grid technology to $19 billion to accelerate health information technology."

There is no funding for science in the Arizona specific stimulus funds, but many of us expect to compete for grants or seek funds under existing federal programs at the national level.