Brandeis Alumni, Family and Friends
What Proposed NIH Cuts to Scientific Research Mean for Brandeis
March 11, 2025
The National Institutes of Health award billions of dollars in research grants annually to universities across the country, including Brandeis, to conduct vital research in science and medicine. In February, the NIH announced it would significantly reduce the percentage of grant funding that recipients can allocate toward facility and administrative (F&A) costs, also called indirect costs, to 15 percent.
“These cuts will have a devastating impact on the Brandeis research enterprise and its ability to train students to do hands-on science in faculty labs, identify new cures, and develop new technologies,” explains Steven Karel, vice provost for research.
Why does research matter?
Brandeis faculty conduct extensive research on science and medicine. Their findings have led to important discoveries relating to the brain’s neural circuits, neurodegenerative diseases like ALS and Parkinson’s, and the biological clocks regulating human sleep patterns. Their work has earned Nobel Prizes, National Medals of Science, and many other accolades.
The university is proud of its designation as an R1 institution, the top tier of a Carnegie classification that indicates “very high” research activity. In simple terms, that means Brandeis holds the highest possible commitment to bringing new knowledge to light through research.
Brandeis’ research strength is especially notable because the university is smaller than most of its peer institutions. In 2019, the journal Nature named Brandeis a top-five university in the world for “punching above its weight” when it comes to research published in high-impact, peer-reviewed journals.
What are indirect costs?
NIH grants cover direct costs associated with the research itself, such as researcher salaries and lab equipment and supplies. However, that research doesn’t happen in a vacuum. Lab buildings need electricity, heat, maintenance, and security. Hazardous waste must be disposed of safely. And staff are needed to provide support for administering grants, running core facilities, and mopping the floors. These are just a few examples of indirect costs, which are essential to any research effort.
All universities must negotiate an indirect cost rate with the federal government. Brandeis’s current negotiated rate is 59.5%. If the NIH caps the rate for all universities at 15%, Brandeis would have to cover the gap from its own budget or scale back on its research. Brandeis received $37 million from the NIH last year and stands to lose $7.5 million annually with the proposed cuts.
“The prospects are really scary,” neuroscience professor Gina Turrigiano told the Boston Globe. “It would blow a large hole in our research enterprise.” Her lab studies brain circuits to understand the origins of autism and other neurological disorders.
How Brandeis is responding
Brandeis has joined a lawsuit with more than a dozen other top-tier research peers, including MIT and Cornell, to block these cuts. Additionally, 22 states, including Massachusetts, filed suits to prohibit the cuts. Last week, a federal judge extended a temporary hold on the cuts while the suits proceed.
The suit argues the scaleback in funding “will devastate medical research at America’s universities … Cutting-edge work to cure disease and lengthen lifespans will suffer, and our country will lose its status as the destination for solving the world’s biggest health problems.”