More than 100 Harvard researchers received termination notices for federally funded research projects on Thursday, as sweeping cuts to the majority of Harvard’s federal grants begin taking effect across the University’s labs.
The notices, delivered via email from Harvard’s Grants Management Application Suite, informed recipients that their projects had been terminated “per notice from the federal funding agency” and contained a list of terminated grants.
“You are receiving this e-mail because one (or more) of your projects have been terminated,” the emails read.
Harvard Assistant Vice President for Sponsored Programs Kelly Morrison and Chief Research Compliance Officer Ara Tahmassian had warned the researchers in a separate Wednesday email that the majority of Harvard’s awards from federal agencies were terminated.
“The University has received letters from most federal agencies indicating that the majority of our active, direct federal grants have been terminated,” they wrote to recipients.
Some of the terminated grants exceeded $1 million, funding entire research operations, including salaries for graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and lab technicians.
No, they don’t. Where do you think they could just magic up money?
Edit:
“They have an endowment!”
What do you people think an endowment is? It’s not a rainy day slush fund. It’s thousands of individual funds that are invested which Harvard, and other schools, use to generate income. But it’s the investment that generates income. If they spend down the endowment then it’s gone and no more money for the future.
Think of it like a savings account where you live off the interest generated. If you spend the savings, no more interest.
Also - like 80% of that money must be spent in certain schools, types of research, supporting certain students, etc. They can’t legally use it for anything else.
https://finance.harvard.edu/endowment
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvard_University_endowment
https://finance.harvard.edu/endowment
That’s not how it works though. They just can’t put that money to anything (same with other higher education). If the Gates Foundation provided them $1B for research of AI… it can only go to that. If they use it for something else, Harvard can get sued.
Let’s not forget that the endowment tax is going up to as much as 18% (or higher) soon… once that big dumb bill gets passed.
Harvard is known for having one of the most enormous endowments of any college anywhere.
Same to you - what do you think an endowment is?
https://finance.harvard.edu/endowment
You’re acting as if Harvard has no control over the way they utilize the endowment, and that’s just not true. Of course they want to manage it so that they are only drawing from a portion of the gains rather than actually spending it down. Of course some percentage of funds are earmarked for specific purposes like new buildings, endowed professorships, and the like.
None of this means that Harvard cannot make the strategic decision to dip heavily into the endowment to maintain researchers’ livelihoods while their fight moves through the courts. Arguably it’s the fiscally-responsible thing to do, because many of the affected researchers are going to be losing work in progress that may have to be replicated if they are ever rehired, and some portion of those laid off are going to move on to other things, impacting Harvard’s research capacity and their reputation as a desirable, high-status employer in the sciences. One would have hoped that they picked this fight with the intention of winning it, and failing to tap the endowment as bridge funding while the legal challenges play out risks making it something of a Pyrrhic victory.
The donations that people have made over the years, giving them the largest endowment in world history?
It’s kinda like asking “how is Elon Musk going to pay for that?” I don’t know, how about with some of his money.
You have no idea what an endowment is.
https://finance.harvard.edu/endowment
So, let me get this straight: are you claiming that Harvard can’t use ANY of its endowment to support research? So when you said “where will they get the money” and I said “from their endowment” and you said “you don’t know what an endowment is” you are saying that because you think none of their endowment can be used to support research? Is that right?
They have money…
What do you think an endowment is?
https://finance.harvard.edu/endowment