From unlocking nature’s fundamental principles through elementary particle physics to unzipping DNA to understand the way living cells function, research at Cornell spans across every science department and almost every scientific topic. Scientific research requires equipment, raw materials and people. To obtain these, however, researchers need one thing: funding. According to an annual report put out by the Office of the Vice Provost for Research, researchers at Cornell, not including Weill Medical College, spent about $470 million in the 2008 fiscal year.

Next Tuesday, America will elect the next president of the United States and new members of the 111th Congress. Perhaps more than ever scientific issues are at the forefront of the political battleground. The interaction of science and politics exists at all levels from the elementary classroom, to the university laboratory, to the halls of congress, to the oval office.

Cornell and its faculty have long made significant contributions to not only science but scientific policy as well. They have also seen their research affected by policy, and thus have a lot to say about this relationship — its past and present circumstances, and what the future may bring.