A message to the campus from Mike Malone and Laura Vandenberg on 5/2/25
Dear Colleagues,
The National Science Foundation (NSF) released an updated policy notice earlier today, reducing Indirect Costs (IDC) on grants to 15%. This change in IDC is only intended to affect new awards and subawards, not grants that we have already received. This new policy is similar to actions taken by other federal agencies in the past few months to reduce IDC; those actions have been met with temporary restraining orders and preliminary injunctions in federal courts. In the weeks ahead, we will work with PIs, proposal developers, and OPAS reviewers to make adjustments to NSF budgets, if needed, for new proposal submissions.
Indirect costs are critical to the work we do as researchers. At UMass and universities and research centers across the country, indirect costs are used to cover expenses related to construction, operations and maintenance of our research facilities, research accounting staff, lab safety and hazardous waste management, research IT and computing services, databases and library resources, and other infrastructure related expenditures. Importantly, the change in NSF’s indirect cost rate does not affect funds allocated for stipends, salaries of lab members paid off direct costs, or lab supplies.
We invite you to our fourth Research & Engagement Campus Listening Session, scheduled for Monday, May 12, 2025, from 2:30 – 3:30 p.m. in LSL S340 (also available via Zoom). To receive a Zoom link, please register here using [email protected] for your email. We strongly encourage in-person attendance.
Please submit questions ahead of time so that we can make the best use of our time. Submit questions here.
Also, a reminder to join us for our third webinar in a series aimed at helping PIs diversify their funding portfolios, Navigating the State Funding Landscape - Opportunities and Requirements. The webinar is on Wednesday, May 7, 2025, from 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. via Zoom. Register here.
The webinar will provide an overview of Massachusetts funding opportunities (including “Master List” opportunities), the role they play in the larger sponsored research ecosystem, differences and similarities between state sponsors and federal agencies, and how faculty can position themselves for success with state sponsors.
We look forward to connecting with you.
Sincerely,
Mike Malone
Vice Chancellor for Research & Engagement
Laura Vandenberg
Associate Vice Chancellor for Research & Engagement
Vice Provost for Research