Garber Announces $150 Million for Harvard Research Amid Federal Funding Uncertainty

Harvard President Alan M. Garber ’76 announced on Monday a $150 million investment in research and infrastructure intended to advance cutting-edge science at schools most exposed to federal funding shortfalls.

The funding will be allocated along two streams. Harvard’s schools will receive $100 million directly to spend on their own priorities, and the remaining $50 million will target “University-wide priorities” and “a set of cross-disciplinary faculty research initiatives,” according to a Monday announcement.

Each school will receive a cut of the $100 million proportional to the amount of federal funding it receives.

Grants from the $50 million pool will be awarded through the Office of the Provost, focusing on four areas of research — neuroscience, energy and climate, immunology, and research geared toward industry partnerships.

The energy and climate grants will be coordinated through the Salata Institute, and the industry-oriented research will be funded by a second year of grants awarded by the Frontiers of Innovation for Societal Impact Fund. Last year, the University gave nearly $5 million to 20 awardees through the Frontiers Fund.

The University is also dedicating money from the $50 million toward computing infrastructure, including expanded access to commercial artificial intelligence models, the announcement said.

The allocation resembles an initiative announced in May 2025 that set aside $250 million for research around the University affected by the Trump administration’s nearly $2.7 billion funding freeze.

Though a federal judge restored the funding in September 2025, the University is still adjusting to ongoing financial uncertainty. Over the past year, it has scaled back spending, relied heavily on philanthropic initiatives, and publicly acknowledged the need to diversify its funding sources.

But the new $150 million is framed as a forward-looking investment. It is explicitly earmarked for projects that “support the advancement of promising areas of scientific research in both the basic and applied sciences” rather than as a way to fill holes created by funding shortfalls.

Harvard Medical School dean George Q. Daley wrote in a separate Monday announcement that the investment was “not meant to fill budget gaps but rather to fuel HMS’ strategic priorities” and said he would direct the school’s portion toward artificial intelligence, foundational research, and technology infrastructure.

Though the Medical School balanced its budget last year after a series of sharp cuts, Daley warned on Monday that “uncertainty persists.”

“The pace of awards to research institutions across the country, including Harvard and HMS, has slowed markedly, which contributes to the significant deficit we are projecting for the current fiscal year,” Daley wrote in his announcement.

“This much-needed infusion of funds from the University comes at a critical time and will give a welcome boost to our research community,” he added.

HMS professor Isaac “Zak” S. Keohane, who chairs the Department of Biomedical Informatics, said the impact of the money would depend on whether it was dispersed widely or directed toward “next-level creative things.”

“I think it all depends on a single decision of taste: Are they going to spread it around, or are they going to make a few small bets — a few large bets?” Keohane said.

Keohane argued the University could learn from Stanford University, which he said invests heavily into particular strengths rather than attempting to be well-rounded.

“If we don’t lean into them, and rather just smear it around to make everybody feel like it’s helped, I think that, in the end, hurts the university and hurts science,” he said.

While Massachusetts Hall coordinated University-wide funding, other schools have taken independent steps to shore up their research budgets.

The Faculty of Arts and Sciences turned to philanthropy, raising $100 million in the past year to support Ph.D fellowships through a Research Accelerator Challenge. The school is now soliciting another $100 million in donations. The FAS also blew past their $500 million fundraising goal last fiscal year, hauling in roughly $800 million.

The Harvard School of Public Health — hit hardest by grant shortfalls last year — has pivoted toward outside funders. Last fall, a department within HSPH weighed partnerships with major health care companies — including CVS Aetna, UnitedHealthcare, and Tenet — to help sponsor research.

The White House is also working on several new fronts to cut off Harvard’s access to federal grants. The Department of Defense, for instance, moved in August to condition future federal funding on Harvard auditing its foreign ties and partnerships.

The Trump administration also tried to claw back already-disbursed federal funding through a Department of Justice lawsuit alleging Harvad violated civil rights law in its response to campus antisemitism. A federal judge threw out the case in August.

The Trump administration appealed the University’s original federal funding case to the First Circuit, where oral arguments are slated for next week.

—Staff writer Hugo C. Chiasson can be reached at [email protected] or on Signal at hcc.35. Follow him on X @HugoChiassonn.

—Staff writer Elise A. Spenner can be reached at [email protected] or on Signal at elisespenner.82. Follow her on X @EliseSpenner.