Federal Research Funding Guidance for Investigators

March 21, 2025

Dear Colleagues,

Uncertainty about the state of federal research priorities and funding is impacting investigators at institutions across the country. This is a difficult time for many, especially those of you whose projects and research programs may be at risk. You make important contributions to your fields and to our understanding of the world. We recognize and deeply appreciate your hard work, your dedication to colleagues and to students, and your commitment to GW’s research mission.

These headwinds are also forcing institutions to make difficult decisions and contingency plans. As we chart our path forward, we wish to provide as much information as we can to assist you with your own preparations.

Externally-funded research activities should continue as planned where external funds are uninterrupted (i.e., where there are no delays in renewals and for projects that have not received stop work orders or terminations); this includes making all deadlines for programmatic and technical reports, timely submission of expenses and appropriate promotion/publication of outcomes. This is a dynamic and rapidly shifting environment, so we expect that investigators will continue to plan for possible disruptions in funding in coordination with their school leadership, assigned Research Support Team staff and the Office of Sponsored Projects.

In some cases, grants or contracts may be delayed, terminated or receive a stop work order. Unless, in the view of the Dean and Department Chair, your work was unsatisfactory, such an action will not be taken as a negative reflection on your performance.

If a grant or contract is delayed, terminated or receives a stop work order, GW cannot support expenses that were previously funded by external sources. Further, reductions in external funding could also impact internally-funded research and scholarly activities as well. Accordingly, we ask investigators to take note of the following:

For schools with Research Enhancement Incentive Awards (REIA), unbudgeted REIA funds cannot be used to replace compensation and other expenses for awards that have been delayed or terminated.
Personnel with compensation supported by externally-funded awards ("soft money") that are reduced or terminated will need to coordinate and receive approval from their Dean’s Office on the appropriate action forward, including the possibility of reallocating all or part of their effort to other funding sources where appropriate, reducing their compensation proportionately, or potentially separating from the university. Note that research faculty should not be reallocated to teaching. If tenured faculty are reallocated to teaching, efforts should be made to optimize class sizes and minimize the number of sections in an effort to control costs.
Research staff and postdocs whose entire compensation relies on externally-funded awards may be furloughed at the Dean’s decision if those awards are delayed or paused, or their positions eliminated if those awards are terminated. We are working with Human Resource Management & Development and the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs to draft guidelines relating to furloughs, including information about the maintenance of tuition and health and wellness benefits during a period of furlough. It is important to note that furloughed employees may not conduct any work on behalf of the university while on furlough. As furloughs still involve the university incurring expenses during the furlough period, it is important that these be incorporated into a School’s budget and coordinated with the School’s Finance Director(s).
If an offer of employment to a research faculty, staff member or student is tied to an externally-funded project that has received a stop work order or been terminated, there may be a need to rescind the offer, even if the individual has accepted. In these instances, it is critical that you first consult with Faculty Affairs, your Dean’s Office, and your HR Business Partner, respectively, before discussing the possibility of rescinding with the individual.
We recognize that at times these grant changes will impact PhD students that are mid-program and receiving tuition, compensation and health & wellness benefits as part of their official offer packages. Programs can vary widely by School and as such:
- Offer Letter Requires Compensation Continuation - If a program’s PhD offer letter requires the continuation of compensation for the duration of the program, then a School will need to find savings elsewhere in their budgets to accommodate/off-set this continuing expense. However, School Finance Directors will need to submit their proposed expense cuts to the Vice Provost of Academic Budgets so that the Office of the Provost can understand the approach.
- Offer Letter Does Not Require Compensation Continuation – In circumstances where the PhD offer letter does not require continued compensation, a School may choose to continue the compensation coverage for a PhD student for all or a portion of their remaining program, but these costs will need to be off-set with other School savings. Similarly, the proposed cost savings must be submitted to the Vice Provost of Academic Budgets prior to the implementation of said cost cuts.
  
  If a School is unable to afford the continuation of the compensation component for a PhD student, then the compensation component should cease upon notification to the PhD student, but the School should continue to provide the tuition and health & wellness benefits to allow students to complete their program. Dean’s Offices have the discretion to utilize PhD students in-place of external Adjuncts where appropriate, as an option to provide compensation or off-set costs.
Upon receiving a stop work order, immediately forward any communication to the Office of Sponsored Projects (osr@gwu.edu), consult with the Research Support Team and follow your Dean’s instructions for intraschool processes.
The Office of the Provost will continue funding intramural awards that support research and scholarship across the university, but potentially at reduced levels.

We recognize that in this dynamic and rapidly shifting environment, there may be unique situations that require further analysis to determine the appropriate path forward. We will work promptly to resolve any issues.

Faculty are encouraged to continue submitting applications for external funding. The Office of the Vice Provost Research and the Office of Corporate and Foundation Relations stand ready to assist faculty to identify new opportunities and funders and to develop fundable proposals. Please do not hesitate to reach out to those teams for support and guidance.

Thank you for your dedication to this scholarly community and for your continued partnership as we navigate the current funding environment.

Sincerely,

Christopher Alan Bracey
Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs
Professor of Law

Robert H. Miller
Interim Vice Provost for Research
Vivian Gill Distinguished Research Professor and Professor of Anatomy and Cell Biology