Stand with Science, a project launched by a Massachusetts Institute of Technology student group called The Science Policy Initiative, went live today with a video. The group is working to protect federal research dollars from pending budget cuts. They are asking for signatures on a letter to “tell Congress how important it is to choose cuts carefully and avoid ruining our future while attempting to save it.”

The letter notes:

Over half a million graduate students and postdoctoral associates study science and engineering in the US… These researchers form the bedrock labor force of the world’s best university R&D community. The value of these graduate students is not limited to the experiments they run and the papers they publish. Researchers in science and engineering learn to develop and implement long-term strategies, monitor progress, adapt to unexpected findings, evaluate their work and others’, collaborate across disciplines, acquire new skills, and communicate to a wide audience…

We graduate students understand the severity of the fiscal crisis facing our country. Our sleeves are rolled up; we’re ready to be part of the solution. But we need your help. Congress’s goal in controlling our deficit is to protect America’s future prosperity; healthy federal research funding is essential to that prosperity. In the difficult months ahead, we ask you to look to the future and protect our crucial investments in R&D.

They also encourage other scientists to share their stories:

Give us your story in the comments, or throw something up on youtube and share a link. You can even offer to have your video put into a story mashup like the kickoff video by emailing standwithscience@mit.edu.

More from NNB on the Science Policy Initiative here.