Northwestern officials announced Wednesday that the Department of Energy could terminate all of NU’s research awards unless it adopts a new, substantially reduced indirect research cost rate of 15% by the middle of next month.
The decision marks a significant escalation by the Trump administration to take further aim at NU’s research funding, as the University reels from the aftermath of a $790 million federal funding freeze last week.
Like many other universities, NU’s currently negotiated indirect research cost hovers at 60%, meaning the federal government reimburses NU an additional 60% of its direct research costs. These reimbursements cover expenses each year to operate lab spaces, waste disposal services and utilities across campus.
The University has until May 14 to accept the proposal before the terminations could go into effect, according to an email sent to NU faculty obtained by The Daily.
“If implemented, this change would have implications for our ability to sustain federally funded research, affecting not only Northwestern but academic research institutions nationwide,” NU Vice President for Research Eric Perreault wrote in the email.
The update comes after the Department of Energy announced a new policy to reduce the funding of “indirect costs” of research grants to 15% late last week. On Wednesday, however, a U.S. District Judge in Massachusetts issued a temporary restraining order blocking the department from implementing the new policy.
For now, researchers at the University should still prepare their budgets for DOE grants with the current approximately 60% negotiated research rate, Perreault said.
Also on Tuesday, a series of universities and national advocacy organizations filed a complaint against the new DOE policy and grant terminations, arguing the cuts would “devastate scientific research at America’s universities.”
This also comes after the National Institutes of Health introduced a similar 15% cap policy to universities, which was permanently blocked by a federal judge earlier this year.
Correction: A previous version of this story stated the federal government froze $790 in funding for Northwestern. The correct figure is $790 million. The Daily regrets this error.
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