OSU faculty members disappointed after federal funding cut for research

Two biologists at Oklahoma State University said nearly $3 million in federal funding was cut for a research program designed to help the next generation of scientists.

Hundreds of other university researchers said their National Science Foundation funding was canceled to comply with President Donald Trump’s directives to end support of research on diversity, equity and inclusion.

The federal funds designated for OSU would have supported 10 students from across the country, who already have their bachelor's degree, but need research experience.

Faculty said those students, who were set to move to Stillwater in a few weeks, will no longer be coming.

Faculty Members “Disappointed”

Inside Michael Reichert's lab are the tools he uses to do his fieldwork as an Associate Professor at the Department of Integrative Biology at OSU.

"We're out there right now working on studying frogs and their mating signals, how they hear these mating signals, how they compete with one another. Try to understand better how animals communicate,” Reichert said.

But a part of his job he looks forward to will no longer be happening.

"The email we received said that the grant is terminated and there is no option for appeal,” he said. “And so basically that means it's cut off immediately. And so we had to scramble to tell people that they can't come here anymore, we're not going to be able to pay them and the project is over."

"We have no information based on the email as to why our grant was canceled,” Assistant Professor and neuroscientist Liz McCullagh said.

“We're very disappointed, of course. And it was quite surprising. It was very sudden,” Reichert said.

What the Program is and How it Works

McCullagh and Reichert said the program offers mentorship and gives students a competitive edge when looking for jobs in science.

"It's why I do my job, honestly,” she said. "Our findings are limited, right, to our lifetime, but what we can do is pass that information and that ability to pursue knowledge, down to the next generation."

McCullagh explained this is part of a four-year program, with three different cohorts of students. After faculty spent one year planning, they accept different groups of students each year for three consecutive years. Each cohort spends about one year on campus doing work. McCullagh said the final year of the program was set to begin June 1 and wrap up in May of 2026, pointing out that the grant money would have run out on its own at that point.

The 10 students are each paired up with a faculty member, so they get individualized attention and mentorship.

Reichert said the program is rewarding.

"I think this program is really effective. It's done a great job of training scientists,” he said.

A description of the program listed on NSF’s website states in part:

“Building a stronger and more diverse scientific workforce is very important to address major societal needs. One of the greatest challenges of the 21st century is to understand and mitigate the extensive and dramatic effects of human activities on the natural world. To increase participation in these efforts, this project will build a network at Oklahoma State University to mentor a diverse group of post-baccalaureate participants, who will work on research projects to study human effects on biological processes. The network will connect mentees with mentors representing a broad scope of areas and research questions in biology. It will provide a structured program to develop a scientific community focused on professional development and fostering an increased sense of belonging in science.”

To read more about the grant, click here.

A Student’s Plans Changed

[CREDIT: PHOTOGRAPHER Juan Martínez Leal]

"I was getting excited for it. I was looking at the local places and close by cities to visit and that kind of thing. And so that also is like, discouraging,” Nicholas George said.

George is graduating from Florida State University this week and no longer moving to Stillwater. He said he is interested in ecology and evolution, and looking at genetics within those topics.

"My plans are still up in the air. I'm still looking for different opportunities,” he said.

He's thankful he didn't sign a lease or buy a flight, but knows others have.

Federal Decision

President Trump’s executive order says it’s about “ending illegal discrimination and restoring merit-based opportunity" within the federal government. 

In February, the Trump administration ordered U.S. colleges and universities to end diversity programs or risk having their federal funding pulled.

In a statement the National Science Foundation says its "efforts should not preference some groups at the expense of others, or directly/indirectly exclude individuals or groups."

OSU’s Message Going Forward

In an email, OSU provided this statement from Vice President for Research at OSU, Dr. Kenneth Sewell. 

Recent actions at the federal level, including presidential executive orders and agency staff reductions, have resulted in some impacts on planned and ongoing research projects at OSU. A select few projects have been outright cancelled by the federal agency that was funding them. Several more projects have been instructed to pause their activities until the agency leadership is certain their programs are complying with the executive orders; many of those projects have now resumed with no loss of funding. Finally, quite a few programs have delayed the start-dates of funded projects or have held off on issuing their requests for proposals. While these matters have certainly been disruptive to the OSU researchers involved and the staff who support them, they have not triggered any significant budgetary or operation problems for the departments or colleges in which the researchers reside. The main “loss” from these disruptions is not to OSU’s financial security, but rather it is the fact that these projects were prevented from (or delayed in) achieving the positive impact that they were designed to achieve.

Although additional actions at the federal level may exacerbate the disruptions described above, we do not anticipate them to result in any fundamental change to how OSU carries out research in the context of our mission. The federal government is a critical partner to universities in advancing scientific research for the benefit of society at large. Anything that disrupts that partnership can have negative impacts on scientific knowledge and on the additional role that universities play in training the next generation of scientists and innovators. For these reasons, we hope to see stability in the functioning of the federal funding agencies as soon as possible.

OSU’s status as a Carnegie R1 research institution is a reflection of our longstanding investment in research as a core mission component and in our partnerships with federal funding agencies. I anticipate that these investments will continue, ensuring that OSU remains among the nation’s top-tier research universities, and that we, as a nation, remain the global leader in research and innovation.