While federal research dollars have been slashed for universities nationwide, so far PNW’s research funds remain safe.
“Federal funding still represents the majority of our portfolio,” said Maja Marjanovic, director of Research and Sponsored Programs. “Purdue University Northwest has not seen major cuts in federal research dollars to date, but we did feel the impact last year in fewer proposal submissions as some federal programs were cancelled or delayed.”
The administration of President Donald Trump has begun to reprioritize research funding nationwide. During the first months of his presidency, the administration paused or redirected billions of dollars in funding.
Grant Witness, an organization that tracks cuts to federal research and training funds, reports that nationally, more than $2.36 billion in federal grants were lost through the end of August. The organization reports that Indiana universities’ grant losses add up to about $5.5 million, a fraction of the cuts experienced in states like Illinois, Michigan, Massachusetts and California.
Outside research funding from federal and other sources, which has grown at PNW over the years, creates significant opportunity here.
“PNW secured nearly $17 million in funding during the 2024–2025 fiscal year,” said Niaz Latif, associate vice chancellor for Academic Affairs, “We anticipate our faculty will successfully attract at least between $10 million and $12 million in external research support during 2025-2026.”
Schools rely on such external funding to supplement revenues from tuition and fees. In many cases, the external funds are used to develop cutting-edge facilities, like PNW’s Center for Innovation through Visualization and Simulation, a laboratory that combines advanced simulation techniques with 3D visualization and virtual-reality technologies. CIVS has attracted significant external funding to find solutions to real-world manufacturing problems.
“At this time CIVS has not directly experienced any impacts to our federal grants,” said Chenn Zhou, CIVS director. “All of our federally funded projects have been progressing as expected, with the exception of one grant … which has been delayed … due to processing paperwork.”
But Zhou said she expects research funding requirements may change in the future.
“We anticipate that the research priorities of federal agencies will shift in the coming years,” she said. “CIVS is prepared to pursue federal funding opportunities that align with these evolving priorities.”
Latif agrees.
“Federal research funding is expected to prioritize areas such as artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, energy and quantum technologies,” she said.
However, Latif said PNW has begun to expand research funding sources beyond the federal government..
“PNW has been actively cultivating industry partnerships to support research and is also engaging with foundations to pursue grant opportunities,” she said. “While these initiatives are still in the early stages, PNW’s strong commitment to community and stakeholder engagement positions it well for securing more substantial industry support moving forward.
