KU set records in research during Fiscal Year 2024, with over $546 million spent on research projects. With federal funding cuts placing stop orders on several projects, the future is unclear for a handful of KU research projects.

Jonah Kahn | [email protected]

Projects being forced to end doesn’t just affect KU or its campuses, but a wider population will be affected by this.

“That money helps the salaries of more than 55,000 people,” KU News and Media Relations Director Erinn Barcomb-Peterson, said. “It also helps Kansas communities, we spent more than 86 million in Kansas in 2024 on our research.”

Barcomb-Peterson said that even with stop orders on a few projects, researchers are continuing with other projects and pursuing more funding. 

Since many staff, faculty, graduate and undergraduate students are being impacted, KU is working on various ways to help them. 

Senior McKenna Bizal is an undergraduate student who previously worked on a KU research project as a student research assistant. Bizal said it would be hard to imagine what it would be like if she didn’t have research opportunities.

“I think it’s incredibly dangerous,” Bizal said. “I think not only just for the students who get to be part of the research projects, but for the people the research is beneficial for.” 

The suspended projects might also impact students’ learning. Many professors are actively involved in research projects, the results from their projects and other KU research is often taught to students in class. 

Additionally, KU has 51 startup companies based on KU research. These startups employ both staff and students throughout Kansas. 

While the future is unclear for a handful of projects, KU will work with its partner organizations to help navigate changes. As Congress works on the federal budget in coming weeks, the future of funding and KU research will become more clear.