Updates on Federal Research Policies

The Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP), the Office of Academic Affairs, the Office of Finance and Business Affairs, and the Office of the General Counsel are all closely monitoring the situation. For faculty, we’ve created this page to provide ongoing updates and will also send less frequent emails if/when significant updates occur. We encourage researchers to check back regularly as these changes are happening on a weekly and sometimes daily basis.

Updates & Guidance

NIH Updates

In late January, NIH issued a pause on grant reviews, public communications and travel. On February 3, 2025, the NIH began to ease the freeze on grant reviews, but operations remain far from normal. NIH remains to review existing grants for DEI.

All standard RPPRs, invoicing, and submissions of new grants appear active. Grant review panels will be rescheduled.

On February 7, 2025, the National Institute of Health (NIH) issued a new capping the allowable indirect cost (IDC) rate grants at 15% for all new and existing grants. This is lower than ÿ�մ��'s federally negotiated rate of 50%. On February 10, 2025, multiple lawsuits were issued, and a federal judge granted a temporary restraining order (TRO), pausing the implementation of that policy. A hearing was held on February 21, 2025 and the TRO was extended.

As of now, the implementation of the IDC cap remains on hold pending a final decision to the legal challenges. For the time being, continue to apply the standard rate to existing grants and new proposals.

On April 4th, a US district judge blocked NIH's indirect cost reduction policy, which would have capped all universities' indirect costs at 15%. While there may be a federal appeal and ongoing negotiations at the federal level regarding indirect rates, for the time being universities can continue to use their existing federally negotiated rates.

NIH released an alert notice, modifying the current terms and conditions of all grants and contracts. The new policy applies to both new and existing awards. In accepting an award, a university and PI must certify that the university does not (a) operate programs that advance or promote DEI and (b) does not engage in boycotts related to Israel.

NSF Updates

On January 28, 2025, the National Science Foundation (NSF) issued a temporary freeze on grant reviews and funding. On February 2, 2025, the NSF lifted the suspension due to a court order. All existing NSF proposals have been reviewed to identify conflicts with an concerning DEI.

None of ÿ�մ��’s grants have been found in conflict with Executive Orders. Most active solicitations remain open, but you should review the solicitation to make sure. Some meetings have been cancelled, and due to the federal reduction in force (RIF), you may experience some delays in response times from NSF officials and Program Officers.

NSF has posted a new regarding the new executive orders and it's impact on NSF.

Q&A

(February 24, 2025) At this time, no. Continue doing the good work you do. If federal policy should change, or should agencies pause funds again in the future, we will issue new directives.

As of this time very few proposals have been affected. PI’s will need to review the funding announcement to make sure it has not been amended or postponed.

In the event a sponsor has contacted you regarding the new policy changes, please contact Jennifer B. Kinney at jennifer.kinney@yu.edu.

Any official stop work orders need to be complied with. No grant activity will be allowed once a stop work order has been issued. If you have received a stop work order, please contact Jennifer B. Kinney (jennifer.kinney@yu.edu) asap so that we can address it.

While our office is learning about these changes at the same pace other universities are, there may be some questions we would not have the answer to. But if you have any additional questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to the office of sponsored programs and we will do our best assist you.