Posted: April 23, 2025
Dear Colleagues,
In light of deep uncertainty surrounding the federal research funding landscape, we are taking proactive steps to safeguard our research enterprise. As part of this effort, the Office of the Vice Provost for Research will pause our internal grant programs for the 2025–26 academic year. This difficult decision allows us to hold our limited institutional resources in reserve so that we can support investigators—working in partnership with departments and colleges—to maintain research continuity if we experience a significant loss of federal research funds.
Should we experience a large-scale freeze or cut in federal funding, we will initiate an emergency bridge funding program. We want to emphasize that our internal funds are not a substitute for federal support and cannot fully offset a large-scale loss. Bridge funding will necessarily draw on a combination of resources from investigators, departments, colleges, and the university.
In the event of a large-scale freeze or cut to federal research funds, we will ask investigators to identify areas where costs can reasonably be reduced or deferred, and to clearly distinguish their most urgent, critical needs from those that are not immediately essential. Your careful judgment will help us steward resources and protect the continuity of the university’s research mission under very challenging circumstances.
We hope that this proves unnecessary, but believe that planning ahead will help to mitigate the impact of disruptions should we experience them. Our goal is to restart internal grant programs as soon as we are more confident about the stability of the external funding environment.
Finally, as possible, we encourage investigators to spend available federal grant dollars on permissible research activities rather than relying on internal or departmental funds. Allowable, budgeted expenses incurred on sponsored activities are reimbursable under the terms of our awards unless or until otherwise amended or terminated. We also encourage you to continue to apply for opportunities as they are posted. The research development team is available to support proposals.
Thank you for your attention and for all you do to advance research and scholarship at Lehigh. We will continue to keep you informed as the situation evolves.
Best wishes,
Anand Jagota, Vice Provost for Research
Dominic Packer, Associate Vice Provost for Research
Cynthia Kane, Associate Vice Provost, Research and Sponsored Programs
Kate Bullard, Director, Research Development and Postdoctoral Affairs