As part of its commitment to sustaining critical research and training efforts at the university, Johns Hopkins is launching new support programs for members of its research community facing unexpected grant terminations, delays, or other interruptions.
Federal funding disruptions threaten the sustainability of individual research portfolios, the completion of clinical trials, and support for trainees, research teams, and administrative staff. To date, more than 100 federal research grants have been canceled universitywide, and many others are experiencing delays in renewals, awards, or reviews.
To address the impact of these grant terminations and funding gaps, the university has partnered with divisional leadership to make a strategic investment in three new grant programs to support faculty, staff, and students—JHU Pivot Grants, JHU Bridge Grants, and the PhD Thesis and Postdoc Research Completion Program. The university is also expanding two current offerings: the popular Editorial Assistance Services Initiative, which offers editorial support for grant proposals and journal articles at no charge to faculty, and the Summer Provost's Undergraduate Research Awards (PURA) program, which gives undergraduates the opportunity to pursue original research and creative projects in collaboration with Hopkins mentors.
"We are deeply committed to sustaining the people and projects that power discovery at Johns Hopkins," JHU President Ron Daniels and JHU Provost Ray Jayawardhana wrote in a message to the Hopkins community today. "These investments, and our intensive ongoing planning and advocacy, reflect our firm commitment to preserving the essential work of both basic and applied discovery, to continuing to honor our core values as America's first research university, especially academic freedom, and to protecting our people, particularly those whose work and livelihoods are dependent upon federal support."
Details on all three programs, including deadlines, eligibility criteria, and application instructions, are available on the Office of the Vice Provost for Research (OVPR) website. Questions about these programs can be directed to the OVPR team at research@jhu.edu. In addition, university leadership plans to host a virtual briefing on Research Resilience, to provide an overview of the current research funding landscape and details on these new support programs. Information on the date and time of that briefing will be shared as soon as it is available. Questions can be submitted to communityupdates@jhu.edu.
More information on the new and expanded programs:
JHU Pivot Grants will provide short-term support to faculty members experiencing unexpected federal research funding disruptions due to sponsored funding terminations. Faculty across all ranks and divisions are eligible, provided the applicant was PI/MPI/Co-PI on a terminated federal award or subcontract. These funds are intended to support pivots of research programs to new research directions and/or funding sources through targeted, flexible awards of up to $150,000 to be spent over the course of 12 months. Funding may be used to support research personnel who had been supported by terminated federal research awards, as well as other necessary research needs including equipment, materials, or services. Early career and junior faculty in particular are encouraged to apply.
JHU Bridge Grants will provide short-term support to sustain research programs that have been financially affected by significant delays in federal grant awards. Faculty across all ranks and divisions are eligible, provided the applicant is PI/MPI/Co-PI on a delayed federal award or subcontract. These funds are intended to maintain research programs with a high likelihood of funding being released in the near future and where there is insufficient support from other grants, discretionary funds, or departmental/school funding sources in the interim. The awards offer a bridge to securing sponsored funding, with up to $100,000 to be spent over a period of up to 12 months. Departments or divisions must apply on behalf of researchers facing a gap in support due to a delay in receipt of sponsored funding (e.g., delay of a notice of renewal, delayed payment after notice of award).
Editorial Assistance Services Initiative (EASI): Established in 2021, EASI offers editorial support for grant proposals and journal articles at no charge to faculty. This popular service has expanded its pool of writers to provide more capacity for editorial support to faculty members of all ranks and in all fields during this period of transition to new federal funding priorities and alternative funding sources. Faculty members submit requests directly to EASI in the Office of the Vice Provost for Research.
New PhD Thesis and Postdoc Research Completion Program: This initiative offers one year of support to PhD students whose dissertations are impacted by recent changes in federal grants and to postdoctoral fellows who had been supported by federal grants that were terminated. Full details—including deadlines, eligibility criteria, and application instructions—are available on the Office of the Provost website.
Expanded Summer Provost's Undergraduate Research Awards (PURA) program: Given the impact of federal research cuts on summer research and internship opportunities, and to enable even more undergraduates to pursue original research and creative projects in collaboration with Hopkins mentors, we have increased university funding for the PURA program for Summer 2025, raising from 66 to 113 the number of funded students at Hopkins.
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