Harvard Pledges $250M to Support Research Amid Freeze

Facing a $2.7 billion federal funding freeze, Harvard University said Wednesday that it will use $250 million of its own funds to support research affected by the cut.

“Although we cannot absorb the entire cost of the suspended or canceled federal funds, we will mobilize financial resources to support critical research activity for a transitional period as we continue to work with our researchers to identify alternative funding sources,” Harvard officials wrote in a message to the campus community.

Harvard is currently fighting the cuts in federal court, though relief doesn’t seem imminent. Even before the funding freeze, Harvard issued $750 million in bonds as a way to raise cash. President Alan Garber also is planning to take a 25 percent pay cut next year, The Harvard Crimson reported, citing a university spokesperson. Some other faculty at Harvard pledged 10 percent of their salaries to support the university’s battle with the Trump administration.

Other universities have turned to their own coffers to support federal funding cuts, but experts say that’s not a sustainable way to make up the gap and fund research long term.