What Happens When Federally Funded Research Is Disrupted?
Given the havoc the current U.S. administration is wreaking on many federally funded research projects and academic institutions, it’s worth considering what will become of these initiatives, the data they have collected, and the resources that support them. Here are some possible scenarios:
Some projects will continue without federal support, sustained by cobbled-together resources and personnel from various sources. While data may be preserved, investigators could find that traditional avenues for communicating their findings have shifted—or even vanished.
Some projects will be delayed as investigators search for alternative funding and resources to restart or rebuild what has been lost. While long-term harm may be avoided, total costs will inevitably rise. Once again, communication channels may be altered.
Some projects will be shut down completely, leaving investigators scrambling to save what they can. (I explored this scenario previously in Massive Waste as Biomedical Research Dollars Go Down the Drain.)
The ripple effects of such disruptions will be felt for years. One pressing question is: What will happen to the resources involved in projects that are halted or disrupted? Even just storing data requires planning and funding, as any database manager will attest. Key considerations include:
Are the data sensitive, and do they require secure storage?
Who will pay for storage and maintenance?
What happens to the physical research components including equipment and samples?
Will data access need to be controlled, and if so, how?
What level of documentation will be necessary to ensure future researchers can make sense of the archived data?
Documentation and secure storage don’t come cheap. Anyone who has retired or replaced old systems knows the costs associated with system shutdowns—especially when sensitive data are involved.
Even if a decision is made in the future to restart these shut-down projects, will the human capital still be available? Or will the researchers and graduate students have moved on to other institutions—or even other careers?
This situation presents a golden opportunity for foreign adversaries and even former U.S. allies to poach U.S.-based talent and resources—some of whom, of course, are not U.S. citizens.
The long-term consequences of this disruption remain uncertain. Perhaps future graduate students will study the changes and upheaval that occurred in 2025, when sweeping “reforms” disrupted the U.S. research establishment.
Having been involved in a National Science Foundation effort in the 1970s to develop statistical indicators of scientific and technical communication, I can’t help but wonder what methods future researchers will use to study the current disruption—and whether their findings will even be published in English.
Copyright (c) 2025 by Dennis D. McDonald
