YuLin Zhen, Photography Editor

Last Thursday, the School of Medicine announced a new mechanism for providing funding to faculty members facing unexpected termination of active grants due to federal policy changes. Similarly, earlier this month, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, or GSAS, announced to the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and the School of Engineering and Applied Science, additional funding support for graduate students to address the decline of available federal fellowships.

In an email sent to the School of Medicine community, Dean Nancy Brown announced the school would provide bridge funding, which is temporary financial support provided to researchers facing gaps in funding. These initiatives come in response to widespread concerns among researchers and students about the uncertainty of federal research funding, particularly in light of continuous policy shifts at the National Institutes of Health, or NIH. 

The School of Medicine’s newly established bridge funding mechanism seeks to provide stability for faculty members who receive premature termination notices for their active grants. In a statement to the YSM community, Brown explained that faculty who have been recruited within the past three years or lack alternative funding sources will be eligible for support. The funding is designed to allow affected faculty time to reorient their research programs. Recent federal policy changes have also threatened graduate students who rely on federal fellowships and training grants to research in a lab. The GSAS funding aims to compensate for the federal decline in funding. 

“We have developed guidelines and a mechanism for bridge funding for any faculty member who receives a premature termination notice for an active grant due to a policy change,” wrote Brown in the internal email to School of Medicine staffers. “Thriving during times of uncertainty requires flexibility and creativity.” 

The changes come as the NIH’s Feb. 7 supplemental guidance on indirect cost rates is going through ongoing litigation and multiple temporary restraining orders, and some say the NIH guidance threatens existing federal research programs. While the restraining orders have halted the enforcement of some of the guidance’s provisions, the uncertainty surrounding NIH funding has prompted department chairs and deputy deans to prepare contingency plans to address potential challenges in the future. 

However, University spokesperson Karen Peart clarified that this new mechanism is not directly related to any cuts in NIH indirect cost rates. 

“Yale School of Medicine already provides bridge funding for investigators who have an anticipated lapse in funding. This new mechanism addresses an unanticipated lapse,” she wrote to the News. “Mechanisms are in place to ensure funding for all graduate students in good standing.” 

Graduate students have also faced increased challenges due to shrinking federal funding, particularly, as Trump targets federal DEI — or diversity, equity and inclusion — training programs and fellowships. 

In response, in an email to GSAS faculty in FAS and SEAS, Dean Lynn Cooley announced additional funding support, including stipend supplements for federal fellowships, an increase in the tuition matching program for faculty research grants and new University Fellowships for science and engineering programs. These initiatives represent a $4 million investment aimed at easing the financial strain on faculty research budgets and ensuring continued support for graduate students.

“Yale has really stepped up to support grad students in those times when training grants have reduced,” said Valarie Horsley, a professor in the Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology. “The funding for training grants has been decreasing since I’ve been here just from policy changes from the NIH.” Horsley first joined the University as an assistant professor in 2009. 

Training grants and fellowships for graduate students have become increasingly competitive as applications continue to increase significantly as the number of available grants only increase incrementally. 

According to Cooley, the decision to provide more support for graduate students came in tandem with Yale College’s decision to increase the undergraduate class by 100 students each year. 

“I am delighted that the College will be able to educate more students with this increase, and grateful for the corresponding support the university will provide to the faculty and graduate students in the FAS and SEAS,” wrote Cooley in an internal message to GSAS faculty in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and School of Engineering & Applied Science. 

Although these measures have been widely welcomed, some faculty members wish for more transparency and consistency across schools in the University regarding bridge funding, Horsley mentioned. While the School of Medicine has been transparent about its contingency plans, faculty in the FAS have noted a lack of similar communication regarding bridge funding.

“There’s been less communication with the Faculty of Arts and Sciences,” Horsley noted. “I did reach out to the dean this weekend to say it would be helpful if we knew that it was the same [as the medical school].”

According to Horsley, uncertainty surrounding the NIH’s allocation of future grants has continued heightened concerns. 

Faculty members who received favorable study section scores for grant proposals last fall remain in limbo, waiting on NIH’s final funding decisions. 

Despite these concerns, Yale’s recent funding initiatives offer a safety net for researchers and students facing unexpected gaps in support. As federal policies continue to shift, faculty and students alike will look to the university for continued investment in research and education.

The general bridge funding policy at the Yale School of Medicine was last updated in August 2023.