Federal budget cuts to impact university research

President Donald Trump’s first month in office was largely defined by his sweeping cuts and freezes to federal programs.

At the National Science Foundation, an independent federal agency which supports science and engineering research, over 10% of employees have been fired, as reported by the New York Times. While 84 probationary workers have been reinstated after a court order, universities across the country watch as challenges continue to make their way through the federal court system.

“I’ve been here 26 years. This is the singularly most stressful period for research,” said Lisa Berreau, vice president for research at Utah State University.

The National Institutes of Health, another independent agency and the largest source of medical funding in the world, according to its website, announced it would cap indirect costs funding at 15% of total awards. This marks a “radical change,” according to Berreau.

“For about the last four years, Utah State has had an indirect rate of 46% with the federal government,” Berreau said.

Indirect costs, which are used by the university to maintain buildings and facilities where research is conducted, are a major way the federal government subsidizes higher education across the country, according to Berreau.

For conservatives, these cuts are generally seen as necessary steps toward eliminating waste and fraud in government spending.

“Any federal funding that is frozen by the Trump administration is [aimed toward eliminating] a waste of taxpayer dollars,” wrote Chayse Leavitt, president of the USU College Republicans, in an email to The Utah Statesman.

“If there’s concern about appropriateness of spending, there are mechanisms by which programs can be reviewed,” Berreau said. “The changes that are happening in staffing at the federal level right now are not being done in a way that is a careful review process.”

Medical research in particular is threatened by recent layoffs and cuts, according to Berreau.

“Utah State University does some wonderful fundamental research, particularly through entities such as our antiviral institute. We are on the front lines, helping to develop the best new approaches for handling viral agents,” Berreau said.

Many supporters of these federal actions have favorable opinions about the impact of research at universities.

“Research is critical to the flourishing of society; therefore, I fully support research being conducted at USU and universities across the country,” Leavitt wrote.

Berreau said the impacts of a decrease in research might not be felt for some time.

“The public may not see them yet, but they will,” Berreau said.

USU is hosting weekly Zoom sessions for faculty to discuss changes in federal policies, according to Berreau.

“I would say that across the country, leaders of research are deeply concerned that these rapid changes are something that have the potential to have profound effects on our ability to support research on our campuses,” Berreau said.

Berreau said USU brought in over $160 million in awards for research last year, making up a large part of the university’s overall funding.

“Those sponsored awards mean jobs for individuals,” Berreau explained. “They mean jobs for students. They mean outcomes in terms of research — outcomes that benefit the public.”

The USU Office of Research is watching developments in other agencies and departments as well. Berreau said she was specifically concerned about how cuts to the U.S. Department of Defense could impact funding toward USU’s Space Dynamics Laboratory, a program she called a “shining star for research in terms of contributions to national defense.”

“This indirect cost recovery that we get right now­ — it’s only announced for the NIH, but we could anticipate that going across all federal agencies,” Berreau said.

Berreau stressed the decrease in research funding would impact the entire university, not just researchers.

“I think students should understand that this is not something that will just happen at the high levels of the university and it won’t have an effect on them,” Berreau said. “It will have an effect on our ability to be the kind of research environment we want to be for our students.”