UW-Madison warns Spending Requirement will “harm the livelihoods" of People in Wisconsin

UW Madison says Grant Restrictions will Impair Research

The University of Wisconsin-Madison is warning that real people will be harmed, and potentially life-saving research will be slowed down if it is forced to spend more money on research.

The university on Saturday reacted to the National Institutes of Health’s announcement of a new cap on research-overhead expenses.

“There will be a standard indirect rate of 15% across all NIH grants for indirect costs in lieu of a separately negotiated rate for indirect costs in every grant,” the agency said in a statement.

UW-Madison responded with a statement of its own.

“The University of Wisconsin–Madison is one of the world’s leading engines of biomedical research. This proposed change to NIH funding – UW–Madison’s largest source of federal support – will significantly disrupt vital research activity and delay lifesaving discoveries and cures related to cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, and much more,” the university said.

UW-Madison did not say just how much money it got last year in federal research funding, but the school has said about a quarter of its $4 billion yearly budget is research grants. UW-Madison is not saying how much of its research money is spent on overhead or indirect costs.

The Trump Administration said the average for research institutions is about 30%, though the White House says some schools have spent as much as 60% on overhead costs.

UW-Madison explained that those costs include everything from keeping the lights on, to stocking the lab shelves.

“The so-called ‘indirect costs’ go to support many aspects of the educational and research work of the university. Indirect costs contribute to everything from utilities charges to building out the laboratories where science is done, to infrastructure for clinical trials of new medicines and treatments,” the university’s statement added.

UW-Madison continues to be one of the nation’s top research universities, though its ranking has slipped.

Until 2016, UW-Madison was a top five research institution, but has since been surpassed by Johns Hopkins, the University of California San Francisco, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Michigan, and the University of Washington on the National Science Foundation list. The latest rankings, from 2023, have UW-Madison sixth on the research list.

The university on Saturday painted a grim picture of what could happen if it has to spend 85% of research money on actual research.

"These reductions will have an inevitable impact on student opportunities to engage in research activities, from undergraduates to Ph.D. and medical students. Medical innovation will be slowed, delaying the creation of new treatments, new technologies, and new health workers," the university stated. "Drastic reduction to this funding will not only disrupt the day-to-day important work of the university but will ultimately harm the livelihoods of real people across Wisconsin and the country, harm the innovation economy and will make our nation less competitive."

But refusing to adhere to the new spending rules may cost UW-Madison more.

"Of 72 universities in the sample, 67 universities were willing to accept research grants that had 0% indirect cost coverage," the NIH announcement explained. "The United States should have the best medical research in the world. It is accordingly vital to ensure that as many funds as possible go towards direct scientific research costs rather than administrative overhead."