A message addressing issues related to actions taken by the federal government in recent weeks
(Peter Morenus/UConn Photo)
Dear Faculty and Staff Colleagues,
We write to update you on several significant issues related to actions taken by the federal government in recent weeks, share how we are planning to contend with potential impacts, and to reiterate our ongoing commitment to our mission.
RESEARCH FUNDING AND ADMINISTRATION
We have seen a significant reduction in new awards to UConn and UConn Health from federal agencies so far this calendar year. Typically, we would expect to receive a combined new award total of approximately $38 million through February; this year, we have received approximately $24 million during this time period.
We are receiving questions with respect to the expenses of research staff and research-focused graduate students should this persist. Administrative and academic leadership teams continue to work actively to plan for contingencies in affected areas. We will provide specific guidance on this issue to the deans and are also working with them on mitigation strategies.
We are seeing significant changes to the administration and funding from many of our federal sponsors to include USAID, Sea Grant/NOAA, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Department of Energy (DoE), and the Department of Education (DoEd).
Additionally, there have also been leadership changes at agencies which focus on high-risk, high-impact technology translation such as DARPA, ARPA-E, and ARPA-H.
The reduction of indirect cost returns from NIH to academic institutions — which would reduce the current negotiated, approved rates for UConn and UConn Health from 61% and 66% respectively to 15% — remains on hold after a federal judge temporarily blocked it from taking effect.
RESEARCH FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES
We are a public, R1 land, sea, and space grant university. Our mission is based on serving the needs of our communities, providing excellent education, and advancing the causes of research and scholarship to bring about positive impacts statewide, nationally, and globally. We provide the R&D needed by our industries, including defense/national security, finance, insurance, biotech, and health sectors. Our mission is not going to change.
At the same time, we understand that every change in administration comes with challenges and opportunities as there are priorities that every new administration would like to enact which may differ from the previous administration. Knowing that, we have adjusted with every new administration.
Areas that we believe the new administration will concentrate on are below. These are the fields that are most likely to be prioritized to receive federal support and thus represent the most significant funding opportunities for faculty in the coming years.
- Energy independence
- AI and quantum technologies
- Defense, national security
- Manufacturing, supply chain, and project management
- Healthy living
- Cancer
- Genetics/genomics
- Technology development/deployment in all areas of R&D
- Workforce development
- Community impact through broadening participation in higher education, R&D, innovation, entrepreneurship
In anticipation of this new landscape, OVPR has been working non-stop since Nov. 6 and has been engaged daily with the Office of the Provost, Governmental Relations, and the General Counsel. We are also briefing UConn's senior leadership team, research deans, center and institute directors, and our faculty/staff task forces on a weekly basis.
What can you do:
