The University of Wisconsin, a premier R1 research institution, is ranked 5th in the U.S. for its research spending. This emphasis on research expenditures amounted to nearly $1.93 billion spent in the 2024-2025 fiscal year, according to UW News.
Due to potential ideological biases and misaligned priorities between the federal administration and research programs, the Trump administration signed an executive order in early 2025 aimed at eliminating these “abuses” in issuing grants, according to the White House Facts Sheets.
But, funding cuts to research are not affecting programs at UW as much as they could be, according to Assistant Dean of Research John Varda. UW and other universities are participating in lawsuits challenging the removal of funding, meaning the university is not currently experiencing the full extent of the funding cuts, according to UW News.
“It seems that the major activity from cutting funding or withdrawing funding has stopped for now,” Varda said. “We’re kind of in a holding pattern currently.”
The funding cuts affected several top universities like UW, but also public supporters like the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation, according to Nature.
UW has seen roughly a 17% decline in federal research funding, according to Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin at a campus meeting last month. Cuts have especially impacted departments in the College of Letters and Sciences, causing scale-backs in administrative roles, according to Varda.
Funding cuts have affected both undergraduate and graduate students, as opportunities have lessened as programs began to scale back because of limited funding, according to Varda.
While research funding may not come from the federal level, UW has encouraged different measures to fund the programs through industry, foundations, public programs such as NSF and local opportunities like the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, according to Varda.
“Our central research office has done a great job with keeping people informed on campus of what’s happening, and our Office of Legal Affairs has done a great job of analyzing new funding agreements,” Varda said.
