NIU officials warn federal research funding cuts and F&A caps could erase millions and affect graduate students

Northern Illinois University research leaders told trustees on the Research and Innovation Legal and Legislative Affairs Committee that recent federal actions to pause or cap university overhead have already cost the university awarded grants and placed graduate students at risk.

Richard Makarski, NIU's vice president for research and innovation partnerships, said federal agencies have taken steps that created immediate uncertainty for university research. “The national funding average rate last year was 9.1%,” Makarski said, describing how competitive grant funding is and how lengthy applications and reviews can be. He added, “Our research rate on campus is 52.5% F&A.”

The nut graf: Trustees heard that agency-level moves — including a temporary pause announced by the Office of Management and Budget and recent agency decisions to cap facilities and administration costs at several research funders — have led to canceled awards and required the university to find emergency resources and new funding paths.

Makarski told…