Federal research funding updates

During the Board of Regents meeting last week, Chancellor Jennifer L. Mnookin shared an update regarding federal research funding changes over the past year. UW–Madison experienced a 17% decline in federal research funding in 2025, due to grant terminations and stop work orders, as well as several other factors, including a decline in the number of grant proposals the federal government considered for funding and a decline in the number of grant proposals the federal government chose to fund. UW–Madison’s new awards were down 30%. As of February 6, 145 grant awards have also been terminated or under stop-work orders. As a result of lawsuits challenging federal actions, 43 of these grants have been reinstated. Among the grants terminated, since about this time last year, the university had been obligated $79M in funding. The university had already spent a portion of those awards last year but lost $27M due to termination. This figure does not account for the funding on these grants that UW–Madison would have been obligated over the lifetime of these grants.