Email Updates

The OVPRI plans to send weekly email updates on Wednesdays.

The following message was sent to graduate students, tenure track and research faculty, department grant administrators, OVPRI centers and institutes, core facility staff, Government and Community Relations, Office of General Counsel, and OVPRI staff on Wednesday, June 18.

Some NIH grant funding restored, NSF proposals submission

Grant terminations: 29, totaling $7.26 million
Note: Two terminations reclassified as "stop work orders" and one new termination received
Relevant agencies: NIH, NEA, NEH, and NSF
Active appeals: 23
Terminations lifted: 2 (NIH) 
These figures are current as of 6/18.

On Monday, June 16, a federal judge in the District of Massachusetts ruled that it was illegal for the Trump administration to cancel several hundred National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants. The judge said in his decision that the process the administration followed to cancel the grants was “arbitrary and capricious” and that it amounted to “racial discrimination and discrimination against America’s LGBTQ community.” The judge also pushed government lawyers to provide a formal definition of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).  

Because the State of Oregon was party to the lawsuit suing the Trump administration for the cuts to NIH funding, the ruling applies within the state. NIH grants at the UO should be reactivated, including F31s, diversity supplements, and other terminated projects. Sponsored Projects Services (SPS) will contact principal investigators as we receive notice of grants that are reactivated, but PIs should reach out to SPS if they receive these notifications directly. We anticipate that the Trump administration will appeal the ruling.

In other NIH news, the agency yet again issued a Notice of Rescission of Civil Rights Term and Condition of Award on Friday, June 13. Over the course of the past week, NIH has issued the Rescission and then rescinded the Rescission. Our office continues to track these developments.

We’ve also learned that the US Department of Education (USDE) has rehired some staff and is beginning to reinstate previously cut research and statistics contracts and re-compete previously halted competitions to comply with Congressional statutes.

Indirect cost updates 

On Friday, June 13, the US Department of Defense (DOD)issued a policy memo stating that it planned to begin implementing a 15% cap on indirect costs (also known as facilities and administrative, or F&A). However, the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU), joining with the Association of American Universities (AAU), the American Council on Education (ACE), and a number of institutions as plaintiffs, sought and has received a temporary restraining order against the proposed cap.  

We are still awaiting the rulings from the hearing last week concerning the National Science Foundation (NSF) indirect costs caps. NSF has entered into a consent agreement with the court to pause the implementation of NSF-25-034 Policy Notice: Implementation of Standard 15% Indirect Cost Rate pending resolution after the June 13 hearing.

Continue to submit NSF proposals 

We strongly encourage principal investigators (PIs) and their staff to:

• Please note that SPS is not holding NSF proposals or award set-ups, and we encourage researchers to continue to pursue submissions. While there are many significant program budget cuts or cancellations of solicitations included in the NSF budget request to Congress (which is not final), program officers are still working to fund as many meritorious projects as they can under the current fiscal year budget.  
• Pay close attention to changes to funding announcements if in the midst of submitting a new grant. Given the flurry of changes at federal agencies, we urge PIs to regularly check the status of targeted future solicitations prior to submission in case of last-minute solicitation cancellation or expiration, given the frequent changes in budgets/programs at federal agencies. SPS will help monitor as well. If you have questions about a request for proposals, please reach out to RDS and/or SPS.
• Closely monitor obligated budget balances to avoid deficits while awaiting future obligations, as anticipated future funding remains subject to availability of funds and should not be considered guaranteed.