Stanford College braces for round $160 million lower as NIH slashes oblique analysis prices
Stanford College is about to expertise an enormous funding lower that may considerably impression its analysis applications. The Nationwide Institute of Well being (NIH)—the world’s largest public funder of biomedical analysis—introduced on Friday, February 7, 2025, that it’s going to cut back federal funding for “oblique prices” in analysis. The choice particularly impacts establishments of upper training, together with Stanford, as reported by The Stanford Every day.
What are oblique prices?
The oblique prices discuss with important working bills that assist analysis infrastructure, together with upkeep, personnel wages for assist workers, laboratory development, scientific instruments, and analysis computing. In response to The Stanford Every day, NIH funding for oblique prices performs a vital position in sustaining Stanford’s analysis amenities and operations.
On common, NIH allocates 26% of its spending to those oblique prices. Nevertheless, below the brand new coverage, the company will restrict oblique value funding to fifteen%, a pointy discount that may impression universities nationwide.
How will it have an effect on Stanford College
For Stanford, the change is especially important. In 2023, 54.4% of Stanford’s NIH funding was allotted to oblique prices. With the brand new 15% cap, Stanford’s NIH funding might be diminished by roughly $160 million per 12 months, affecting analysis throughout a number of departments.
The NIH memo explains that the lower goals to maximise funding for direct scientific analysis moderately than administrative overhead. In 2023, the company awarded over $35 billion in grants to greater than 2,500 analysis universities, with $9 billion designated for amenities and administration, in response to The Stanford Every day.
The coverage takes impact beginning at the moment, February 10, 2025. Nevertheless, the NIH has clarified that it’s going to not retract any funding for oblique prices awarded earlier than February 7, 2025.
With this important shift in funding, Stanford and different analysis establishments must discover other ways to assist their analysis infrastructure amid a tightening price range.
