Will Harvard Continue to Lead the Charge? - Part 29

From the Wall St. Journal: Harvard University and other top research schools are seeking corporate funders to support their science labs following sweeping cuts to government grants. The T.H. Chan School of Public Health at Harvard, which typically gets more than 70% of its annual research dollars from the federal government, lost nearly all of the funding after the Trump administration canceled hundreds of the university’s research grants and contracts. The school expected to get more than $200 million this fiscal year.

Administrators called the losses catastrophic. “The situation is far more dire at the Chan school than any other Harvard school,” said Sarah Branstrator, Chan’s managing director of academic strategy and research partnerships. “That has prompted immediate action out of sheer necessity.” Layoffs started this spring and are continuing, Branstrator said, and unless cuts are reversed, the school expects to wind down half of its federally funded research in the next fiscal year. 

The cancellations come amid months of tension between Harvard and the Trump administration, which has cited concerns about antisemitism and DEI efforts as the reason to cut or freeze more than $2 billion in Harvard funds, threaten its tax-exempt status and try to revoke its ability to enroll international students...

Branstrator said that even if funding is restored, Chan will “absolutely stay the course” in seeking outside sources for funding to decrease its reliance on government support. The focus on corporate sponsorship at Chan, which is further along in its planning, is a big shift for a school that typically gets between 14% and 18% of its annual research budget from nongovernment funders. Previously, Chan’s administrators scrutinized and often renegotiated corporate partnerships to avoid conflicts of interest for its scientists. Now, the school is aiming to tap alumni who work in corporate R&D labs and its deep bench of faculty who serve on scientific advisory boards to broker conversations at companies across the life sciences.  

“We’re hoping for them to play door-opener,” Branstrator said. The school aims to preserve the independence of university scientists, for example with agreements that guarantee scientists can publish their findings with no input from companies, Branstrator said...

Full story at https://www.wsj.com/us-news/education/harvard-funding-corporate-sponsors-4ee36388.