New fund to support critical research needs

Dear colleagues,

We write to announce the establishment of the Institute Research Continuity and Transition Fund. It is designed to provide temporary financial support in fiscal year 2027 to principal investigators and research groups that have been most directly and significantly affected by the decline in federal research funding and face acute challenges as a result.

As described in this video last month, compared with last spring, MIT has experienced a decrease in federally funded research activity on campus of approximately 20%. The Institute continues to make the case for sustained federal investment in university research to ensure continued U.S. leadership in basic discovery. However, we must at the same time deal with the immediate implications of these funding reductions for our campus research enterprise. 

Through this new fund, anyone with permanent PI status at MIT can submit a request for funds to meet critical research needs, such as enabling current graduate students to complete their theses or maintaining ongoing experiments that would otherwise be severely disrupted. 

While we will not be able to fully shield research from the impacts of federal funding reductions or fulfill every request, this fund will help in the short term to maintain research activity and commitments to students in areas most affected by these changes – and will thereby give PIs the opportunity to consider permanent strategies to navigate a new and more challenging funding environment. 

The full details, including deadlines, acceptable uses of the funds, and instructions on how to apply, can be found in the InfoReady system. If you have any questions about the new fund, please feel free to write to rct_fund@mit.edu.

Sincerely,

Sally Kornbluth
President

Anantha Chandrakasan
Provost

Ian A. Waitz
Vice President for Research

Glen Shor
Executive Vice President and Treasurer