Update on the NIH indirect cost rate

Dear MIT principal investigators,
 
I am writing with positive news.
 
As you know, last Friday evening the National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced that it was capping the reimbursement rate for indirect costs at 15%, which would have amounted to drastic across-the-board cuts to research funding. NIH purported to make the cuts effective for universities as of the next business day, which would have been this past Monday, February 10. As stated in President Kornbluth’s message to the MIT community on Monday night, MIT joined the American Council on Education, the Association of Public and Land Grant Universities, the Association of American Universities (AAU), and a number of AAU member institutions in filing suit in federal court seeking to block these indiscriminate cuts from taking effect. At least two other lawsuits were filed against the NIH the same day. 
 
As a result of these swift actions, a federal judge has temporarily stopped the NIH’s notice from taking effect. MIT’s current facilities and administrative (F&A) rates, for NIH and all other federal agencies, thus remain unchanged for now.
 
We are continuing to be actively involved in the litigation, and will update affected principal investigators (PIs) and DLCIs if the situation changes. Please continue to follow our webpage on Changes to Federal Research Policy for the latest information, and contact research-policy-questions@mit.edu with any concerns.
 
Given the uncertain funding environment, we continue to urge PIs to take a conservative approach to new funding commitments on federal awards and constrain non-personnel expenditures.
 
Sincerely,
 
Ian A. Waitz
Vice President for Research