Posted: January 28, 2025
Dear colleagues,
As you may have seen, the White House Office of Management and Budget released a memo yesterday temporarily halting disbursement of funds and new awards until at least February 10. We recognize that this is causing significant confusion and stress for our research community.
Federal agencies are also rewriting policies and Notice of Funding Opportunity announcements. We encourage you to keep working on proposals, while continuing to check in with agencies and your contract and grant specialist (CGS) for guidance. If you have questions about adapting proposal narratives, please reach out to the Office of Research Development.
If active awards are suspended or activities are restricted, we expect the funding agencies to notify us directly. Once we receive any communication, ORSP will promptly inform Principal Investigators. In some cases, PIs may receive notifications directly. If you receive such a notice, please forward it to your CGS immediately. ORSP will review the notifications and provide guidance on the necessary steps for compliance
Though we have not received any such notifications at this time, there may be stop-work orders issued. ORSP is prepared to support any requests made by funding agencies, including supporting investigators in meeting requirements. Please remember that communications with funding agencies in response to any orders or notifications received must be through ORSP, as Lehigh’s authorized organizational representative.
We are also assessing the potential financial impacts of these actions for research programs and the university. Events continue to change rapidly, and we will keep the community updated via email and on our website.
In the meantime, please feel free to reach out to your CGS with questions.
Anand Jagota
Vice Provost for Research
Cynthia Kane
Associate Vice Provost for Research
Dominic Packer
Associate Vice Provost for Research