Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025

Have a news story, publication, event or staff highlight for us? Submit it by 5 p.m. Oct. 1 here.

Headline phrases from NBC, Reuters, the Associated Press and the Independent this morning have referred to the president’s claims about the causes of autism in terms such as "unproven,” "not backed by science," "unfounded," and “false." 

It's an understatement and trite to say that this is a challenging time to be in research, and in science communication. Misinformation is one issue, but the flood of noise and the fractured media environment compounds it. Add in some skepticism and fear, and it's no wonder some of you tell me how you are struggling to reach the partners, communities and potential research participants you want to engage.  

With these headlines, some media are trying to help the public discern facts from spin and how scientists conduct research and come to conclusions. You're a part of that, too: the stories that you tell about your work and the impact of research matter.

Today's LSI Connections is less about stories of research and shifts to focus on summaries derived from watching KU town halls, reading news about federal changes and the possible fiscal year cliff, observing trends in science news, and from practicing social listening across traditional and social media. We hope they are helpful to your work.

The next edition of LSI Connections will have more information about an effort to create a single website to host clinical research trials, plus several achievements, grant and project highlights, resources and upcoming events. If you have anything for us to include – or if you'd like to strategize about research communication – please reach out. 

 -Jen

Jen Humphrey, associate director for strategic communications

We have received news, just this morning, that all key personnel and subaward recipients on NIH awards who are submitting Research Performance Progress Reports for NIH awards on or after Oct. 1 will need to participate in training required by NIH. These modules focus on disclosures in statements of Other Support. The NIH policy is designed to ensure that (a) such personnel fully understand their responsibility to disclose all resources made available to the researcher, irrespective of monetary value and for institutional affiliations that the researcher may have beyond that of current grant, and (b) such personnel have received training relevant to research security.  

To comply with this requirement, primary investigators and senior/key personnel named in a proposal must take the CITI online research security training developed by the National Science Foundation and available on KU’s CITI training site (the link will enroll you directly into the course after signing into CITI using your KU single sign on). Please note that if this is your first time logging into CITI at KU, you will need to create a KU CITI account, which should be an option at time of sign in. Please contact rcrtraining@ku.edu if you have questions on the course or difficulties logging into CITI.

Once the training is complete, you must also complete and digitally sign the attached certification template so it can be included with your RPPR submission.

We apologize for the short notice about this requirement. NIH announced this new policy requirement in July of 2025, but only recently alerted the research community that individual certification would be required at time of RPPR submission. Please contact your assigned RPPR team member or the RPPR team if you have any questions.

The Office of the Provost hosted town halls Aug. 21, Aug. 28 and Sept. 18.  All town halls can be viewed on the Provost’s website (KU credentials required). Highlights that are most pertinent to the research community follow.

Sept. 30 deadline: Kyle Christian, vice chancellor for federal relations, discussed the deadline to fund the government. The current continuing resolution funds the government through the end of the fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30. If there's no budget by then–which looks increasingly likely– it will require a temporary continuing resolution or the government will begin shutting down. As of Sept. 18, there was no agency guidance on how this would affect university research, Christian said. The Office of Management and Budget typically releases that information about a week away from a shutdown and determines what will be funded during that time. If they decided, for example, that the government wouldn't fund the grants processing system, that would directly affect universities, Christian said.

Duration of Stay: Sept. 29 is the deadline for comments on a proposed change to the "Duration of Stay" for visa holders and will affect students of all levels who come to KU from other countries. The university is working with its partners to state opposition to the changes, which could limit a doctoral program to be completed in 4 years, among other changes. Christian did not sound hopeful about the issue, which will also be difficult to address if there is a shutdown.

Proposed restoration of funding: On a more hopeful note, while a budget has not been passed, Christian said that August budget proposals had restored funding for federal agencies. For example, the administration had suggested an $18 billion cut to NIH, but most of that was restored by Congress in their proposed budget.

F&A: Discussions of proposals for funding F&A are still underway, with a consortium of universities proposing the FAIR approach (see article on FAIR below in LSI Connections) versus agency guidance that capped F&A at 15%. A challenge mentioned in the town hall is that OMB can legally issue Uniform Grant Guidance (2 C.F.R. Part 200), which affects the ability of universities to oppose it and litigate it. OMB guidance could not only affect future grant cycles but also existing awards, according to the law firm Holland & Knight.

Grant terminations update: On Aug. 28, Vice Chancellor for Research Shelley Hooks said that some training grants that had been cut had been restored. Overall, at that time, the Office of Research had totaled $7.5 million in grant terminations from the cancelation of 20 awards. There have been delays in funding current awards as well.

Grants management: Hooks also described grants management changes underway, including a new director of operations working on processes for supporting for seed grants, large proposals, research infrastructure and how decisions are made about what to support, as well as research cores, facilities, and contracts–all in coordination with the KU Medical Center as part of One KU efforts. She briefly mentioned adoption of new grants management software; this software and restructuring will affect the Life Span Institute.

Next town hall: The next scheduled KU Lawrence town hall is Nov. 20 at 1 p.m.

In a Sept. 16 interview with KU Chief Financial Officer Jeff DeWitt, the Lawrence Journal-World described plans for reducing the university’s budget. DeWitt said that the university is aiming to cut $16 million by the end of FY2026 (June 30, 2026), and that it will "establish $32 million in annual budget savings" by the end of FY27. The article states this is to meet targeted wage increases for KU employees who are below market rate pay. Units were asked to submit budget proposals by mid-October.  

To meet the budget cuts described by DeWitt, the KU Life Span Institute has prepared budget scenarios of 4% and 6.5% cuts, with the possibility that cuts could go higher.

The August 7 executive order "Improving Oversight of Grantmaking," which will impact research across the country, will soon be addressed through guidance from the Office of Management and Budget. The order aims to shift from merit-based decisions in grant-making to political appointees making decisions; requires that designates review new funding to make sure it's consistent with agency priorities and national interests; and requires federal agencies to give preference to funding projects at institutions with lower indirect cost rates. An update from OMB is anticipated by Sept. 30. The AAU issued a statement Aug. 28 summarizing the executive order and opposition to it.  

Shortly after the executive order, an NIH memo issued Aug. 15 went beyond outlining agency priorities to require the agency's leaders to review all current and planned activities to determine any that do not align with those priorities. No timeline was provided. Leaders of NIH institutes and centers are to individually review “all contract solicitations and funding announcements, applications for new or renewed grants, active grants and contracts, cooperative agreements and internal research and training programs,” according to the newsletter Fierce Biotech. While the priorities were part of the statement, the internal review was not.

Earlier this year, the White House attempted to cut federal funding for scientific research by instituting a 15% cap on indirect costs. In response, a national group of university research representatives has developed the Financial Accountability in Research (FAIR) model as an alternative plan for funding indirect costs, which they are proposing Congress adopt into law. 

So, what is FAIR and how does it propose to restructure F&A?

The goal of the FAIR model is to provide greater transparency and accountability to taxpayers about the cost of federally funded research, according to the Joint Associations Group (JAG) on Indirect Costs, comprised of national organizations representing academic, medical, and independent research institutions, including the University of Kansas. 

These indirect costs are the essential costs universities incur when conducting federally funded research. As opposed to direct costs, which are tied directly to specific projects or programs, indirect costs pay for expenses indirectly connected to the research, some of which are reimbursed by the universities. 

The FAIR model reorganizes and renames research costs into three categories: 

Direct costs would be called Research Performance Costs (RPC). 

Indirect costs would be called Essential Research Performance Support (ERPS) and would represent costs that are “necessary for carrying out research and that can be linked explicitly to a given project,” according to the JAG memo. They cover four areas: regulatory compliance; award monitoring, oversight and reporting; research information services; and essential research performance facilities.

The third is a catch-all for anything not in the ERPS category, to be called General Research Operations, including human resources, procurement and general services.

Finally, the FAIR model would give universities two options for calculating costs, based on their size and capacity. 

Nationally, the 15% cap from federal agencies on indirect costs is estimated to cut billions of dollars in funding for laboratories, utilities, equipment, support staff, data storage, high-speed internet, and more that support research.

At KU, the current rate negotiated with the federal government for F&A is 55%. Life Span Institute Director John Colombo notes that the vast majority of the Life Span Institute’s “hardline” budget is derived from F&A that comes from the Office of Research.

“Such substantial reductions would clearly have implications for us and our ability to carry on as our center is configured,” he said.

The Association of American Universities (AAU) Board and leaders of nine associations that comprise JAG recently issued statements endorsing the FAIR model and encouraging Congress and the current administration to work with the U.S. research community to codify it into law. 

For now, the government’s proposed changes in F&A are paused as court cases opposing them proceed.   

All federal agency-funded research published now must be made freely and immediately available, as required by a policy first approved by the Biden administration and implemented six months early by the Trump administration. The Chronicle of Higher Ed notes that some publishers, such as Springer Nature, are requiring scientists to pay fees that were previously optional, asking for thousands of dollars to publish. Of NIH-funded studies that the journal agrees to publish, the Chronicle noted, “the author’s version must get sent to PubMed Central and scheduled to become publicly available on the official publication date. The policy doesn’t specify how journals should act." The AAU voiced opposition to the policy change on Sept.17.

 During the summer, the KU Office of Research distributed a summary of the Life Span Institute's 5-year review via email to LSI staff and investigators. The message referred to a need for "streamlining administration" as a recommendation. A recent subsequent message from Vice Chancellor Shelley Hooks clarified that the reference to streamlining administration was not a phrase or recommendation from the internal nor the external 5-year review committees.

Connections is produced by strategic communications staff at the Life Span Institute for affiliated researchers, staff and students. 

Writing and editing by Jen Humphrey and Christina Knott.
Image credits: KU Marketing and Adobe, 
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