Majority of Harvard’s Research Funding Has Been Restored
Grant dollars started to flow again after a federal judge ruled that Trump’s funding freeze at the university was unconstitutional.
Photo illustration by Justin Morrison/Inside Higher Ed | APCortizasJr, clintcpopineau and RODWORKS/iStock/Getty Images
As of Tuesday, Harvard University had recouped most of the federal research funding it lost when the Trump administration froze its access to grants earlier this year, multiple local news organizations reported.
The taxpayer dollars first started to flow last month after a federal judge ruled that the restrictions Trump had placed on grant access were unconstitutional. It remains unclear exactly how much funding has been distributed and what remains frozen, but in an email obtained by The Boston Globe, Harvard’s CFO and vice president for finance confirmed that the university has “received reinstatements of the majority of our direct federal awards.”
While many faculty members and staff see the resumption of grants as something to celebrate, some remain skeptical.
“Despite this encouraging news, uncertainty about the continuation of scientific funding remains,” Andrea Baccarelli, dean of the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, wrote in an email to staff members Friday, according to the Globe.
As a result, the public health school has instructed researchers to cap their spending at 80 percent of the total grant value, at least for now.
