Federal Agenda

Federal investment in research and education

We thank Congress for its recent robust support of federal research funding and urge continued critical investments in basic and applied science in a broad spectrum of fields across all federal research-supporting agencies and directorates. The UW was proud to be awarded $1.45 billion in federally sponsored research in FY2021.

The UW continues to view support for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) as our top federal funding priority and the National Science Foundation (NSF) as our second priority. Every college and school across the UW has a grant funded by either NIH or NSF, and most have significant funding from both agencies. In FY2021, the UW received more than $718 million from the NIH, making it our largest single federal funding source, and $136 million from the NSF.

Overall, the UW received more than $874 million from the Department of Health and Human Services in FY2021, which includes funding from the NIH, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Health Resources and Services Administration, and others.

Maintaining federal investment in research is not simply about singular monetary investments. Research programs need time, sustained resources and infrastructure support to mature and succeed. Inconsistent rules and guidance from federal agencies or funding uncertainty — whether from continuing resolutions, one-time increases or proposed cuts — undermines the decades of progress. Uncertainty sets up researchers, research institutions, agencies, innovation and our nation for failure.

The pandemic has caused significant disruption to the ability of researchers and labs to conduct their work. For example, travel into the field has been difficult, and labs have restricted the number of people who can access them at one time, both of which have hindered experiments. Federal agencies have been understanding and accommodating to keep researchers supported during the pandemic. However, as states and nations continue to enforce strong social-distancing protocols and travel prohibitions, grantees need continued flexibility in grant spending and additional funding backfill to allow continued execution of their grants.

The University of Washington’s priorities for 2022

While we believe there is a strong need to protect our investment in the research enterprise, funding for research programs is not enough. In addition to support for scientific research, federal efforts that bolster resources — both financial and programmatic — for student, faculty and staff success are fundamental to our long-term national security, economic growth and prosperity. Scientific progress and societal advancement are not possible without fostering student development and talent. We strive to ensure that the UW is an inclusive, diverse and welcoming community to all its members regardless of race, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, economic status, nationality or length of time at the University. Assault, harassment and discrimination have no place on our campuses or in our nation.

We must find ways to allow all talented individuals to contribute to the education and research ecosystem, and we must break down unnecessary barriers. We urge Congress to improve our international-engagement abilities by reducing visa processing times for students and visiting scholars; enacting permanent, positive solutions for DACA-eligible recipients and their families; reaffirming our ability to welcome and engage in global discourse through international students and scholars; and creating an equitable and fair green-card system. In short, we ask that Congress and the administration come together in 2022 to finally take up and pass a comprehensive immigration-reform package.

The UW fully recognizes that access to federal resources and the ability to welcome individuals from around the world are privileges and understands the associated responsibilities. We take seriously the security of the research enterprise and national security concerns. Foreign and domestic bad actors who strive to abuse or circumvent the grant and intellectual property system cannot be tolerated. The UW is working with the federal government and colleagues across higher education to be proactive in reinforcing or establishing protections and processes to educate faculty, students and staff on potential risks; promoting best practices for compliance with current federal and state disclosure requirements; and protecting our mutual intellectual property and future economic opportunity. We urge Congress to instruct federal agencies that sponsor research to better collaborate, share information and develop best practices to recognize threats and protect federal and university investments in intellectual property.

Further, we urge the federal government to develop a holistic data-reporting framework that is user-friendly for institutions and end users of data. Institutions of higher education are accustomed to submitting substantial volumes of data to systems such as the Department of Education’s Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, and we agree that the integrity of our nation’s scientific enterprise warrants transparency regarding our global engagements and contracts.

Over 30 years ago, Congress enacted Section 117 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 due to concerns about the growing financial relationship between U.S. universities and foreign sources. Congress balanced academic freedom and national security by mandating financial transparency by all institutions of higher education through reporting all contracts with, and gifts from, any foreign source if these contracts and gifts, alone or combined with others, are valued at $250,000 or more in a calendar year. This reporting occurs twice a year and requires disclosure of all contracts and the nature of gifts to the Department of Education. Institutions have complied for over three decades, but the current reporting mechanism is cumbersome at best and prohibits true, usable disclosures by end users. Rather than reveal nefarious actions, a well-designed system will, we believe, demonstrate instead how globally engaged and interconnected knowledge and the pursuit of science are today. We want to comply with sensible and reasonable requirements, and we ask that the federal government help create a usable system with clear guidance.

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