Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Research Funding topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
New Mexico research leaders warn $95 million in federal research funding lost, urge state investment
Summary
University research leaders told the Science, Technology & Telecommunications committee that federally funded grants are being canceled or put at risk — HED data show about $95 million in research losses — and urged targeted state investment in facilities, test beds and workforce retention to remain competitive for future federal awards.
Lika Kullen, vice president for research at New Mexico Tech, told the Science, Technology & Telecommunications interim committee that New Mexico’s research universities face large, near-term losses of federal support and urged state investment to protect programs and workforce pipelines. “Their data currently shows a loss of $95,000,000 in federal funding to research alone,” Kullen said, citing figures compiled by the New Mexico Higher Education Department (HED).
Kullen said the losses go beyond single principal investigators and affect multi-institution projects, national laboratories, industry partners and community test beds. She cited the Department of Energy-funded Four Corners carbon storage hub as an example: “17,000,000 of the 42,000,000 that was lost” had been allocated to New Mexico Tech, she said, and other grants that supported water-desalination test beds and rural pilot sites are paused or terminated.
Why it matters: Kullen said roughly three-quarters of research funding at New Mexico universities comes from federal sources, so cuts risk layoffs, reduced student and postdoctoral support, and erosion of workforce pipelines that feed national labs and local industry. She warned that proposal activity is already declining — “the numbers of proposals that we are submitting to federal funding agencies are down to 60 to 65%” at some campuses — and that changing federal priorities (she cited proposed large cuts to NSF, NIH and DOE in the current budget cycle) are forcing programs to pivot.
Lawmakers pushed for detail. Senator Block asked where the $95 million figure is documented; Kullen pointed to HED’s compiled data and offered to have HED present updates. Several members pressed for more granular information about facilities and test beds that need investment. Kullen told the committee that New Mexico’s strengths — national-security test beds, quantum and AI investments, biosciences at UNM Health Sciences and aerospace facilities — make the state well positioned to realign with emerging federal priorities, but she said targeted state funding will be required to maintain competitiveness.
On workforce impact, Kullen said New Mexico Tech alumni are a pipeline to national labs and that uncertainty is already affecting student choices: she recounted talking with a master’s student contemplating a PhD who now faces unclear prospects due to funding cuts. Representative Garrett and others expressed willingness to pursue state appropriations and federal advocacy; Kullen said conversations about “backfilling” and investment have occurred with HED and the governor’s office.
What lawmakers and staff can do next: Kullen urged the committee to consider investments in facilities, equipment, test beds and talent retention programs that would amplify state funding and help universities compete for new federal awards. She recommended coordinated, collaborative planning across institutions and said the appendix circulated to the committee lists illustrative grant losses by institution for legislators to review.
The presentation closed without formal action; committee members asked HED and university leaders for follow-up with itemized requests and documentation.
