How we got here
President Donald Trump’s administration ordered •the NIH—the agency that awards a large number of •grants towards research—to reduce “indirect costs” to 15% on Feb. 7. Indirect costs are essentially overhead costs associated with research, such as supporting research staff, as well as the costs to maintain facilities and laboratories, according to the NIH website.
Many research organizations charge over 50% in indirect costs, according to the NIH website. For example, Rice University has a federally negotiated indirect cost rate of 56%, according to a Feb. 11 statement.
Michael King, the Associate Vice President of Research and Chair of Bioengineering at Rice University, told Community Impact that if the NIH goes through with these cuts, the university could lose tens of millions of dollars.
He said he researches cancer and tries to develop new treatments to prevent the spread of cancer—his research has been supported by the NIH for 23 years.
King said the university will have to find other funding sources to help offset the loss of NIH funding if the policy goes through. However, he said he’s optimistic the university will find funding, especially in Texas, where lawmakers are currently trying to make investments towards brain research and dementia.
“We’re lucky to be in the state of Texas,” King said. “In the same way that Texas and Houston are world leaders in cancer research, a few years from now, we’ll have a similar dominance in neuroscience research.”
Stay tuned
The potential cuts are on pause indefinitely as a federal judge issued a temporary halt after 22 state attorney generals requested a block on the policy.
