Research Funding

What’s at risk

Harvard is home to the world’s most cutting-edge medical, scientific, and technological research. For decades, that research has been supported by the federal government, among many other sponsors. That support is essential for the continuation of groundbreaking innovations that impact countless human lives.

Without federal funding, this work will come to a halt midstream, and researchers will lack necessary resources to finish ongoing projects or to finance new ones in the numerous fields Harvard supports, including:

Changing lives through medicine

“It’s through research that we can live longer, healthier lives.”

Harvard scientists discuss potential impacts of federal funding cuts — from U.S. brain drain to fewer medical breakthroughs.

Funding cuts to Harvard have a broad impact

Funding cuts to Harvard reverberate far beyond our campus. Each year, Harvard researchers partner with universities and hospitals across the country to utilize their expertise, gain new perspectives, and collaborate on solutions.

Recent funding cuts have impacted dozens of hospitals, universities, and research institutions across 32 states, from Morehouse School of Medicine to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital to Texas Biomedical Research Institute.

402

Innovations reported by Harvard researchers in the 2024 fiscal year
155

U.S. patents issued in 2024
162

Number of Harvard Nobel laureates, including one from 2024
$1 billion

research funding from a combination of federal, foundation, and industry sponsors in 2024
$526 million

Research funded directly by the University in 2024

The history of federal funding and the real-world price if it’s halted

For 75 years, the federal government has partnered with academic institutions, fueling discoveries that have transformed medicine, saved lives, and positioned the United States as a global science leader. If this funding is halted it interrupts work on tuberculosis, chemotherapy, pandemic preparedness, Parkinson’s disease, and Alzheimer’s disease.

Federal funding freeze leaves grad students, postdocs scrambling for labs, support

Pipeline of up-and-coming researchers an integral part of nation’s innovation ecosystem

Read the Harvard Gazette story

Deadly Cost of Funding Cuts

For decades the United States has been at the forefront of medical research. But now the Trump administration is cutting billions of dollars in funding for universities, hospitals, and other scientific institutions that carry out that research.

View the PBS segment

Trump administration’s escalating feud with Harvard affects breast cancer research

Joan Brugge, director of Harvard’s Ludwig Cancer Center, spoke to PBS News about how frozen funding will prevent progress with her research to find better ways to detect and destroy cancer cells.

Watch more on PBS News

Scores of Researchers Receive Termination Notices After Federal Government Cuts Most Grants to Harvard

More than 100 Harvard researchers, including HMS Prof. David A. Sinclair, received termination notices for federally funded research projects after the Trump administration cut the majority of federal grants to Harvard.

He got the stop-work order. Then the scrambling began.

Wyss’ Don Ingber details rush to hold onto consequential projects, talented researchers — and system that has driven American innovation.

Leading Harvard scientist ordered to halt research in funding freeze

Read the Boston Globe article

Antisemitism and Research Funding

The government claims to have taken this action because it says the University has not fulfilled its obligations to curb and combat antisemitic harassment.

Harvard continues to devote considerable effort to addressing antisemitism. We have strengthened our rules and our approach to disciplining those who violate them. We have enhanced training and education on antisemitism across our campus and introduced measures to support our Jewish community and ensure student safety and security. We have launched programs to promote civil dialogue and respectful disagreement inside and outside the classroom. We have adopted many other reforms, and we will continue to combat antisemitism and to foster a campus culture that includes and supports every member of our community. Curtailing research funding, however, will not help with this important work. What it will do is jeopardize lifesaving cures as well as work that ensures our nation’s economic and defense security.

Learn about our implementation efforts