By Kritika Agarwal
As sudden funding reductions, contract and grant cancellations, and other actions at key federal agencies have created chaos for research funding in recent weeks, many higher education institutions across the country have had to announce hiring freezes, workforce reductions, cuts in expenditures, and cuts to graduate admissions and postdoctoral appointments. For example, Johns Hopkins University said on March 13 that it is laying off more than 2,000 workers as a result of an $800 million loss in federal funding through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
“The lack of clarity and uncertainty concerning future federal research support means loss of opportunity to American science,” AAU Senior Vice President for Government Relations and Public Policy Toby Smith recently told NPR. Smith called the potential loss of federal research funding “an unforced error” that would harm our nation’s ability to attract top scientific talent and advance scientific research.
University research provides tremendous value to the nation and to local and state communities. As The Economist noted in October 2024, the United States is “helped by [universities’] ability to attract many of the brightest minds from around the world” and that a tradition of robust public support for university-based research has made invaluable contributions to the “country’s vibrant innovation lifecycle” and “America’s tech superiority.”
Undermining this shared responsibility between the federal government for research and innovation risks harming America’s economic growth, security, and global competitiveness – which is why AAU members and other research universities are using their platforms to highlight the real-world impacts of their research. Below are websites that a few AAU member universities have put up to share how their research solves problems, creates cures, drives economic growth, and saves lives:
-
Arizona State University; Creating Solutions That Matter to You – “There’s a reason research matters,” the university notes: “It creates technologies, medicines and other answers to the biggest challenges we face.” For example, says ASU President Michael Crow, the iPhone isn’t just the result of the genius of Steve Jobs, but of the work done by thousands of academic researchers and inventors over decades. Academic research, Crow says, is the “invisible hand” behind many of the technologies we take for granted today.
On the university’s research-impacts website, you can find out more about how ASU researchers are helping Arizonans stay cool in a heating climate; using artificial intelligence to prevent crop shortages and create advances in health care; mapping the DNA of more than 1 million species; and more.
-
Johns Hopkins University; Research Saves Lives – This project “collects and shares stories from across Johns Hopkins, showing how research creates hope, creates jobs, and saves lives.”
Read stories about how cuts to National Institutes of Health funding would harm the smallest patients, jeopardize the fight against chronic disease, and threaten lifelines for cancer patients. Also read stories about research in action, including how Johns Hopkins scientists are pioneering prosthetics, food science, new treatments for sickle cell disease, and more.
-
University of California, Davis; From Labs to Lives: How Research Funding Solves Real-World Problems – UC Davis researchers have used federal funding to “advance stem-cell therapy that could eliminate HIV from the body, treat Huntington’s disease and address other disorders;” “utilize machine learning to provide early warnings of earthquakes and tsunamis;” “develop a brain-computer interface that translates brain signals into speech;” and more. In addition to highlighting research breakthroughs, the site also features short recordings of UC Davis researchers talking about how they are solving real-world problems and how cuts to federal funding would affect their work.
-
University of Chicago; Inside the Lab – Take a peek inside the University of Chicago’s advanced laboratories with its Inside the Lab website. Explore Assistant Professor Sam Light’s lab, where scientists “are mapping the incredible network of microbes living inside your gut;” or visit Assistant Professor Joyce Chen’s lab, where researchers are working to find “innovative ways to grow lung cells in the lab” and to “find new ways to treat diseases and protect lung health.”
While you’re there, listen to the University of Chicago’s Big Brains podcast to hear stories about the groundbreaking research and discoveries happening at the university, and learn about “some of the intellectual contributions pioneered” at the university over the last century-plus in the UChicago Explainer Series.
-
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign; Illinois Research – At Work for You – “What matters to you, also matters to Illinois,” the university notes. The Illinois Research website showcases how university research leads to great health, thriving kids, successful farms, happy pets, a strong economy, healthy aging, safe water, and vibrant communities. You can read about how “Illinois researchers design, develop, and assess new technologies to help teachers bring complex STEM content to life;” about how “The Center for Digital Agriculture at Illinois is helping farmers, researchers, educators, and industries keep pace with the way technologies are transforming agriculture;” and more.
Kritika Agarwal is senior editorial officer at AAU.