UND positioned to weather federal belt-tightening Rising war costs and budget shortfalls have forced Uncle Sam to sharply reduce domestic spending, including big cuts in research grants. That’s tough news for some scientists who bet careers on federally funded research. For some schools, including the University of North Dakota, federal cash accounts for well over half of the money allocated to research. That's also a big challenge for regions such as the Red River Valley, which depend, in part, on university-based research projects to create jobs and other economic development. The good news, UND research leaders say, is that UND — where federal research budget cuts do indeed have many scientists scrambling — is exceptionally well-positioned to weather this current federal research budget storm. Check out the hows and whys of the new federal research budget realities and how UND is coping in this Q&A - see http://www.und.edu/faculty_qa/05032007.html — with UND interim vice president for research Gary Johnson and UND biomedical researcher and associate vice president for research Barry Milavetz.