Shifting Gears

As blog readers will know, the higher ed model that developed after World War II is breaking down as the federal government pulls away from supporting research. There are two primary sources of funding for basic and applied research: the feds and the private sector. The likely scenario for research universities is to shift from the former to the latter with maybe some public funding from the state.

From the Daily Bruin: The Henry Samueli School of Engineering’s new $125 million Semiconductor Hub will push technological boundaries, faculty and administrators said at a conference May 21. The hub will accelerate research on semiconductors, which are materials used in computer chips to regulate electrical current, faculty speakers said. The project will advance autonomous vehicles, robotics, environmental engineering and space systems, the School of Engineering said in a statement.

Alissa Park, the Ronald and Valerie Sugar Dean of the School of Engineering, announced the hub and its corporate partners – Applied Materials, GlobalFoundries, Meta, Synopsys and Broadcom – at the Mong Auditorium. Engineering faculty, students and more than 250 industry executives attended the half-day event...

The Trump administration withheld $584 million in scientific research funding from UCLA in late July, alleging that the university allowed antisemitism, affirmative action and “men to participate in women’s sports.” While a series of court orders restored the vast majority of the frozen grants, the UC has pushed for alternative funding, including state funding and a bill that would allow California voters to decide on a $12 billion bond for scientific research...

Full story at https://dailybruin.com/2026/06/02/ucla-announces-125-million-semiconductor-hub-with-industry-partners.