Dear colleagues:
We recognize there is much uncertainty about the U.S. presidential transition and recent federal executive orders, in particular OMB Memo M-25-13, issued late yesterday, which puts a pause on disbursement of federal funds for active grants, sponsored projects and loans. This memo is broad-sweeping and impacts many sectors who receive federal funding. It is not specifically targeted at universities.
It is important to note that UT Austin receives the majority of its federal sponsored research funding on a cost-reimbursement basis. This means that once a federal sponsor has authorized spending on a given project, researchers perform work, charging associated expenses to their federal sponsored project accounts. UT Austin covers the costs upfront. The Office of Sponsored Projects then submits invoices for reimbursement or draws down funding through a federal payment portal. That mechanism to request reimbursement is currently paused.
Even so, at this time we do not believe it is necessary to pause federally funded research activities unless you have received a stop-work order from the federal sponsor directly. Researchers may continue to perform work on already-funded federal projects. We currently expect the pause to be lifted within a few weeks, at which point reimbursements will resume for work funded by federal grants and cooperative agreements, and the university will be able to recover the funds it has advanced.
We don’t yet know the full impact of these developments on federally funded research. We are actively monitoring and analyzing guidance from the White House and federal agencies and will keep you informed as we learn more about implications to our research activities. In the meantime, the Office of the Vice President for Research, Scholarship and Creative Endeavors has set up a website to post relevant announcements from federal agencies as they become available. Questions about specific funded projects may be directed to the Office of Sponsored Projects at osp@austin.utexas.edu, or to your Associate Dean for Research.
Our research mission is critical to our state and the people who live here and beyond. We are committed to keeping you informed and providing you support and resources so that you can continue to advance that mission.
Sincerely,
