The High-Stakes Hunt for Research Funds

Navigating the new normal of uncertainty

For the last eight decades, higher education and the federal government have enjoyed a mutually beneficial research compact: The government provides what has become tens of billions of dollars annually, and university scientists pursue studies foundational to national security, space exploration, energy production, public health, medical advances, and other crucial knowledge domains.

That alliance is now tattered. The second Trump administration’s slashing of federal support for academic research has left universities in disarray, with reverberations that will likely be felt for decades.

This report features insights from policy experts, higher-education leaders, researchers within and outside of academe, and critics of a current funding model they see as inefficient, rigid, and bloated. You'll explore the projected long-term effects of the unstable funding climate, the promise and limitations of alternate funding models, and how institutions are setting their research agenda in an uncertain funding climate.

With this report, readers will:

• Understand the immediate and longer-term effects of research-funding cuts and delays.
• Learn the roles that the federal government, business, and philanthropy play in supporting academic research.
• Discover how funding uncertainty has begun to deter international and domestic research talent.
  
• Explore alternative models that may point to a more variable, efficient funding landscape, but also how those models depend on core federal research support.
  
• Examine the legal efforts targeting indirect research costs, and how policy experts expect that battle to play out in coming years.
  

Date: April 2026
Pages: 44
Digital file size: 2.23 MB

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