President Donald Trump’s recent execution order has stopped some universities’ actions, including recruitment and a lot of academic research. The National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation and others suspended the grant review team to comply with the order and cut funding, putting researchers in a difficult situation.
Graduate students often receive educational allowances for research from federal agencies to make their work as well as their degree achievement.
To alleviate some difficulties, the UH Foundation of the University of Hawaii has established a graduate success fund that will provide direct relief to learners who have lost their funds.
A UH spokesperson said that fewer than a dozen graduate students in the system have been affected to various degrees to date, but “like most institutions, the possible range of impact is unknown.”
On the ground: Michael Fernandez is a first-year UHMānoa PhD student at the Botany Program, and he is a participant in the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program, which supports learners who pursue a research-based master’s or doctoral degree in the field of STEM education. The five-year scholarship includes three years of tuition and expense financial aid and annual allowances.
“I and other researchers in the program are uncertain about the future funding of the scholarship,” Fernandez said in a press release. “This is particularly worrying for me, as the NSF-GRFP is currently the main source of funding for my graduate studies.”
University of Hawaii President Wendy Hensel stimulated the creation of the Graduate Success Fund at UHMānoa and Uh Hilo. Supported by private contributions, the fund reflects an undergraduate success fund that provides bachelor’s degree in need of help paying tuition, books and fees.
The UH Foundation will also support undergraduate researchers who may be interrupted due to federal freezes.
The Graduate Success Fund is designed to help students retain and financially healthy and to support career development and future talent in Hawaii.
“It is crucial that we do everything possible to ensure that our college graduates, the next generation of talent, urgently need the workforce in Hawaii,” Hensel said. “These graduate students are our scientists, doctors, nurses, psychologists, social workers, engineers, educators and leaders of tomorrow.”
The spokesman said details on how funds are allocated, including the number and number of recipients, are still being determined.
A bigger situation: Federally funded research projects aimed at addressing diversity, equity, inclusion, gender, green energy or other so-called “left-wing ideology” have been under fire in recent weeks.
Trump signed an executive order in January to stop federal grant spending, which was later cancelled, but some organizations stopped funding anyway.
Trump administration’s funding weapons for institutions
On March 7, the Trump administration announced that it had cancelled the $400 million federal grant and Columbia University contract because “the school’s continued inaction in the face of continued harassment from Jewish students.” The federal government also threatens to draw money from any educational institution invested in investments in diversity, equity and inclusive programs.
In February, the National Institutes of Health announced it would cut funding for indirect costs to conduct medical research, including hazardous waste disposal, utilities and patient safety. In 2024, the agency sent about $26 billion to more than 500 grant recipients contacted by the agency.
Hensel issued a memorandum in February opposing cuts in facility and administrative costs.
“For well, the impact of this decision cannot be exaggerated,” Hensel wrote. “The university has received 175 awards from NIH and the subsamurai, and is currently worth $211 million. NIH reduces UH’s current negotiations [indirect compensation] jabsom’s 56.5% rate [UH Mānoa John A. Burns School of Medicine] and [UH] Cancer centers alone will eliminate approximately $15 million in funding that UH uses to support its research program, including ongoing clinical trials and debt payments. ”
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