On March 12, the University of Michigan shared an overview of a new research funding program that has been developed in response to federal stop-work orders impacting and projected to impact the university’s research enterprise.
Program Background
In response to federal stop-work orders impacting and projected to impact our research enterprise, the deans, executive vice presidents, and the VPRI of the University of Michigan are working closely to offer a transition plan that allows units to manage uncertainty related to funding stoppages, mitigate impacts to staff, and reduce risk to health and safety with respect to critical research already underway.
Learn more about this new program below, and please continue to visit the OVPR website for updates on research agency directives.
Program Overview
A fixed amount of central resources has been made available to support units for up to six months that are experiencing transitions related to funding stoppages. The program is effective immediately and applies to our Ann Arbor, Dearborn, and Flint campuses, as well as Michigan Medicine.
Eligibility Criteria
This program includes units whose existing federal grants or contracts have been terminated unexpectedly, have experienced a disruption to the current level of funding provided via an official stop-work order or non-competing renewal delay, or where funding delays put participant health and safety at risk. Typical grant life-cycle non-renewals are not included at this time.
Specific Access Criteria
- Researchers must have an official stop-work order, complete termination through an order, or threat to health and safety that suggests a funding stoppage, lapse or significant delay.
- Any existing project funding that has been received must have been exhausted.
- Units must demonstrate the amount of direct, eligible cost that would be incurred over the duration of the support.
- In the case of research that involves human subject participants, researchers must demonstrate risk to health and safety of human research participants in the case of an abrupt stoppage.
- Requests for funding must come with a timeline including when federal funding is expected to stop and when it is either expected to restart or when the funding source was originally expected to end.
- If funding is restored and is retroactive, repayment of funds would be required.
- This program does not apply to activities that are not currently funded. For example, this program does not apply to proposed continuations of existing grant-related activities for which future funding requires a new application.
Eligible Expenses & Access Criteria
Central support would cover up to 50% of eligible research costs for up to six months, with units covering the remaining expenses. It is the unit’s responsibility to recommend the match from central funds that they are seeking.
Central funding can be used to:
- Support salaries, benefits, supplies, and other needed direct expenses for employees and PhD students who cannot be reassigned to other work and have lost salary coverage as a result of cancellation of the federal grant.
- Safely wind down certain studies involving human subjects.
Centers and institutes whose primary source of internal funding is a central unit (rather than a school or college) will be evaluated based on a review of the unit’s ratio of cash reserves to revenue – there would still be an expectation of shared funding.
Note: Equipment expenses are generally not eligible, unless they are necessary to protect the health and safety of participants.
Funding Source, Duration, and Review
Central funding is composed of a fixed amount of resources. We will evaluate initial funding decisions and reassess the current amount of funding reserved for this program on a quarterly basis, at minimum.
Funding Approval Processes
Researchers should work through their existing research office/structure to understand if their work is eligible to be funded through this new program.
If a dean or the directors of LSI and ISR determine a project merits funding, they will make the request for central funding.
The relevant EVP, VPRI, and unit lead (dean, director, chair) will review the planned operation (e.g. winding down, vs. bridging) prior to a funding decision. Funding decisions will be made by the EVPs, under recommendation from deans/directors and VPRI.