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Dear Colleagues,
While Research Resource is about much more than updates on federal research policy, I have received numerous comments from our community that these top notes remain an important and valued source of information on national science policy. With this in mind, I would like to use this month’s newsletter to review where we stand with several of the more impactful and active federal issues.
Federal Government Shutdown: The government shutdown continues to have limited short-term disruption for research. Most federal awards are continuing to draw funds as usual, and investigators can continue submitting applications on schedule. However, as we enter the shutdown’s fourth week, we will begin to see delays in processing and review of award submissions and issuance of federal Notices of Awards (NOAs). Please let me know if you are experiencing any shutdown-related issues. The Office of Sponsored Research’s shutdown page remains your resource for navigating agency-specific updates on proposals, contracts, and awards.
Congressional Appropriations for NIH: The congressional appropriations process has demonstrated strong support for biomedical research. The Senate proposed $47.1 billion in science funding and the House proposed $46.9 billion. The Senate’s proposal also included language and provisions addressing facilities and administrative (F&A) costs and other critical issues. Importantly, the appropriations negotiations continue to move forward despite the shutdown, and I remain hopeful that we will see agreement on the FY26 NIH (and other research funding agencies) appropriations before the end of the calendar year.
Award Terminations and Delays: Federal research award terminations and delays seem to have largely ended. Of the approximately 100 awards that were terminated since last March, the vast majority have been reinstated, and there have been no new NIH award terminations since August 27, 2025. We have seen a small handful of other awards terminated across the larger funding landscape. Overall receipt of NOAs from NIH has normalized over the last three months, and we believe the agency is well-positioned to maintain on-time issuance with the important caveat of the current shutdown.
Executive Order on Grantmaking: Please review my recent note regarding the August 7 Executive Order (EO) on Federal Grantmaking that redefines many aspects of the federal grantmaking process. We are watching this issue closely as we expect NIH to clarify plans for implementation over the coming weeks.
If you would like to hear more about the federal science policy landscape, please view my presentation at the Chancellor’s recent UCSF Town Hall and register for the October 30 Office of Research Town Hall, where we will share more updates on federal and state research advocacy, in addition to other important updates.
I encourage you to reach out with questions, feedback and concerns at research@ucsf.edu.
Sincerely,
Hal
Harold R. Collard, MD, MS
Vice Chancellor for Research
Professor of Medicine and Health Policy
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