Brown University has joined a new federal lawsuit that aims to block federal funding cuts that would jeopardize Brown’s leading-edge research in semiconductor materials, scientific computing and research that is advancing U.S. security and technology. The lawsuit filed on Monday, April 14, in Massachusetts federal district court challenges an action announced on Friday, April 11, by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to limit indirect cost reimbursements to a 15% rate for the agency’s research grants to higher education institutions.

 

Brown felt it was important to become a named plaintiff in the lawsuit — alongside the Association of American Universities, the American Council on Education, the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities and eight other private and public universities — to advocate against the destructive impacts on innovative research that is advancing everything from medical imaging and fast-charging electronics, to security systems for banking and personal data. 

 

This new lawsuit expands upon other legal efforts we have pursued to block federal actions that aim to dramatically cut funding to critical research. It demonstrates that we will continue to take the action necessary to protect the essential funding that supports Brown research and our country’s need for innovative solutions to critical problems.

 

It’s both troubling and unsettling that the Department of Energy has moved to reduce funding in areas that are key to the nation’s current and future energy needs and security, as well as the technology and innovation required to maintain America’s global leadership. Areas of DOE-funded research at Brown include artificial intelligence, quantum information science, and nuclear technology, all of which have been identified as critical priorities of the current federal administration. This cutting-edge, multi-year research funds projects spanning Brown’s School of Engineering, Department of Physics, Department of Applied Mathematics, Department of Chemistry, and Department Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences, including research that was just awarded the 2025 Breakthrough in Fundamental Physics Prize.

 

Brown Vice President for Research Greg Hirth submitted a declaration on behalf of the University as part of the joint lawsuit, and we have shared publicly what is at stake with the DOE cuts in a news announcement posted Monday on the Brown website. We encourage you to read it.

 

As explained in the declaration, overall in the 2024 fiscal year, Brown’s federally sponsored grants and contracts totaled $253.56 million, or 19% of Brown’s operating revenue. Of that $253.56 million, $69.63 million was in the form of indirect costs. In the current 2025 fiscal year, Brown’s operating budget projects $300 million in sponsored research, which represents 19% of the University’s net revenue and anticipates $73 million in indirect costs.

 

The declaration describes the destructive effects that the government’s ongoing actions to terminate grants could have on Brown’s research initiatives, operating budgets, personnel, core infrastructure and communities. As we shared when announcing legal action in February against an indirect cost rate cap instituted by the National Institutes of Health, as well as Brown’s support of a separate legal filing to ensure continued flow of research funding from federal agencies, we do not want any of these outcomes for Brown.

 

We remain committed to working with our educational associations and other public and private institutions to protect critical sources of research funding.

 

Sincerely,

Christina H. Paxson

President

 

Francis J. Doyle III

Provost