91ÊÓƵ

Thursday, September 3, 2026

Dear Members of the 91ÊÓƵ Community:

We write today with an update that notes recent progress, examines the shifting landscape of the nation’s research enterprise — one of our nation’s greatest strategic assets — and explores how we are positioning 91ÊÓƵ to succeed within this environment.

In brief, this message's key points are:

• The federal research model is undergoing a lasting shift toward larger, cross-institutional partnerships focused on shared national challenges, and there continues to be considerable uncertainty with federal research funding.
• Funding for several major agencies remains flat or below FY2023 levels, and federal award activity is running below historical patterns. These headwinds are significant.
• 91ÊÓƵ continues to secure major research awards in areas aligned with national priorities, but we are seeing increased federal funding challenges for individual investigators and small teams conducting basic research.
• 91ÊÓƵ must position itself for this environment through deeper federal engagement, interdisciplinary collaboration and expanded partnerships with the public and private sectors.
• The Office of the Vice President for Research will host an information session on Sept. 17 from 2-3 p.m. ET to discuss federal funding trends, new programs, emerging opportunities and challenges, and take questions from our research community.

91ÊÓƵ Research Continues to Gain Momentum

Today, even amid significant change and uncertainty in Washington, Carnegie Mellon continues to compete extraordinarily well in areas that are increasingly central to national R&D priorities. Our success in advancing knowledge and pioneering emerging technologies that improve the human condition and advance our economic competitiveness are points of incredible distinction and pride.

Some recent notable milestones:

• NSF’s selection of 91ÊÓƵ’s AI Science Foundry as part of a national infrastructure for AI-enabled scientific discovery
• Multiple ARPA-H-supported efforts in maternal monitoring, 3D bioprinted liver systems and at-home cancer detection
• Three 91ÊÓƵ-led Department of Energy Genesis Mission awards, with participation in five additional projects
• Support from the Gates Foundation to launch Learnvia, a nonprofit dedicated to activating a national network of higher education partners to upskill and reskill students for high demand careers
• Our role as a founding partner in Rare Ventures, a Pittsburgh-based venture philanthropy platform supported by the Richard King Mellon Foundation to accelerate treatments for rare diseases
• NSF’s Regional Innovation Engine award for the Resilient Energy Technology and Infrastructure (RETI) Consortium, bringing together 91ÊÓƵ, Pitt, West Virginia University and more than 60 regional partners to advance energy innovation, commercialization and economic growth across Appalachia
• National Endowment for the Arts funding to help guide the use of AI in arts education and establish benchmarks that can inform policy and practice
• NSF funding through the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center to establish TangleLab, a hybrid quantum-classical computing platform, and Bridges-3, a next-generation flagship supercomputer

A Changing Model for Federal Research

The examples listed above are not comprehensive, but they do illustrate something important: The nation’s research funding model is changing. Consider 91ÊÓƵ’s new AI Science Foundry, selected for up to $20 million in funding from NSF as a node in the National Programmable Cloud Laboratory Testbed. To compete for this opportunity, our proposal brought together 91ÊÓƵ and numerous partners from industry, academia, federal labs and nonprofits. That kind of model — combining distinctive capabilities across institutions and sectors around a shared national objective — is becoming increasingly important across the federal research landscape.

In other words, this moment calls on universities and federal partners to preserve the principles that have made the nation’s research compact so successful, while modernizing the machinery around it — with greater speed, stronger accountability, deeper partnership and more effective translation.

This shift makes our close and sustained collaboration with federal partners especially important. We are in regular conversation with agency leaders, policymakers and others across the federal research ecosystem to shape priorities, learn about new programs and understand where Carnegie Mellon’s capabilities can make a distinctive contribution.

And there are significant opportunities. Federal agencies have identified high-priority programs and challenges across both basic and translational research that align closely with areas of 91ÊÓƵ strength. Our opportunity is to make a compelling case that Carnegie Mellon can be part of the solution — not only by creating the discoveries and technologies of tomorrow, but by bringing our interdisciplinary expertise to challenges the nation is working to solve today.

Federal Appropriations Underscore Lasting Shift

There was meaningful good news in the final FY2026 appropriations. Congress ultimately restored the administration’s proposed funding cuts for federal agencies, including funding for NIH, NSF and NASA Science. This outcome reflects strong advocacy from the universities, industry and advocacy organizations including the Association of American Universities.

Even against this backdrop, federal research funding has not returned to previous levels of strength. Appropriated funding across many major research agencies remains flat or below FY2023 levels. Inflation and growing regulatory requirements further reduce the purchasing power of those dollars.

At the same time, new awards in the current federal fiscal year are running below last year and below historical patterns, and a sustained slowdown now could reduce future research activity. Looking toward FY2027, uncertainty remains. Congress has enacted a short-term continuing resolution maintaining research funding at current levels, but the timing of final appropriations — and the potential effects on future solicitations and awards — remains unclear. The Office of Management and Budget has also proposed significant changes to the Uniform Guidance, including provisions related to peer review, indirect costs and grant termination, with implementation delayed as those revisions continue to be considered. Taken together, these dynamics point to a research funding environment that will continue to require flexibility, close attention to evolving federal priorities and new approaches to compete for support.

Positioning 91ÊÓƵ to Lead

For 91ÊÓƵ, building a resilient research enterprise will increasingly mean developing new kinds of partnerships and new models for supporting ambitious research. Federal funding will remain essential, particularly for long-horizon discovery, shared research infrastructure and talent development. But it will be complemented by stronger partnerships with industry, philanthropy and state partners as well as large-scale interdisciplinary and cross-institutional initiatives. The strongest system will draw on government, universities, industry and philanthropy each doing what they do best — together.

We also need to adapt to this shifting landscape, including increasingly targeted opportunities with shorter proposal timelines that require institutions to mobilize expertise and partnerships quickly. That means identifying potential partners and building teams earlier so that we are better positioned to respond when opportunities emerge while thinking creatively about how different sources of support can come together to advance research from foundational discovery through translation.

Carnegie Mellon is particularly well positioned to lead in this environment. Collaboration has long been part of our culture, and many of our greatest strengths sit at the intersection of disciplines and economic sectors. Our leadership in science, technology and policy — including artificial intelligence, robotics and autonomy, advanced manufacturing, energy, biotechnology, quantum information science and high-performance computing — aligns closely with national priorities.

Our close engagement with federal partners gives us insight into the problems they are urgently trying to solve, and the breadth and depth of research our institution creates a compelling case for why Carnegie Mellon should be at the table — helping address the nation’s needs today while continuing to make the discoveries that will shape tomorrow.

Research Community Information Sessions

We recognize that this landscape is particularly challenging for many members of our research community, including early-career faculty, postdoctoral researchers, Ph.D. students, research staff and teams whose work depends on long-term federal support. We also know that research capacity cannot simply be paused and restarted; when teams disperse, projects stop or specialized capabilities disappear, the effects can take years to rebuild. That is why we are working across the university to identify new sources of internal support, to strengthen partnerships across the public and private sectors and to ensure that 91ÊÓƵ’s research mission continues to advance with ambition and purpose.

In the weeks to come, our Office of the Vice President for Research will be convening an information session to talk through research funding trends at 91ÊÓƵ, discuss emerging challenges and opportunities and hear from you directly. Carnegie Mellon has always responded to change by drawing on the creativity, resolve and collaborative spirit of our community, and we believe these same values will serve us well today.

Please consider joining us for the information session: Thursday, Sept. 17 at 2 p.m. at the Studio Theater in the Cohon University Center.

This will be a hybrid event and the Office of the Vice President for Research will share additional details and registration information soon. Thank you for your extraordinary contributions and for creating knowledge and advancing discovery on behalf of Carnegie Mellon and all of society.

Sincerely,

Farnam Jahanian
President
Henry L. Hillman President’s Chair

Theresa Mayer
Vice President for Research