The potential loss to the University of Arizona is $40.5 million a year if a Trump administration cap on support spending for health research goes through, a UA senior vice president told faculty in a memo Tuesday.
That is significantly higher than the $24.6 million per year that a National Institutes of Health website had estimated for UA’s loss.
The University of Arizona.
The NIH announced Friday it was cutting payments toward overhead costs for universities and other research institutions that receive its grants, a policy that could leave universities with major budget gaps.
While faculty members say the UA currently receives about 55% of the amount of a grant to put toward support staff and other needs, that would be capped at 15% across the board.
A federal judge in Massachusetts temporarily blocked the cap in 22 states, including Arizona, after their attorneys general filed a lawsuit Monday challenging the plan to reduce funding for so-called indirect costs — including lab, faculty, infrastructure and utility costs.
People are also reading…
The lawsuit, joined by Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes of Arizona, contends the administration’s action is illegal because indirect cost reimbursements are “negotiated with the federal government through a carefully regulated process, and then memorialized in an executed agreement,” Mayes’ office said in a news release Monday.
In his memo Tuesday to faculty, Tomás Díaz de la Rubia, UA’s senior vice president for research and innovation, wrote, “The U of A conducts about $165 million in NIH research, and research-support funds cover expenses like labs, specialized core facilities, technical personnel, cybersecurity protections, compliance, and other operational costs.
“These critical enablers of research are major reasons why the U.S. is the most technologically advanced nation in the world. The federal government’s partnership in research is crucial to maintaining our nation’s economic and national security advantage,” he wrote.
Díaz de la Rubia
He said the money is provided through reimbursements.
The UA has a $65 million overall budget deficit — down from $177 million in early 2024 — that it is working to eliminate this fiscal year.
“We remain committed to advancing our research mission and supporting our research community,” Díaz de la Rubia wrote.
Some U of A research already stopped by Trump administration
