MIT joins group of research universities in filing amicus brief against federal funding cuts
Kornbluth: “The value to the public of federally funded university research feels obvious to us at MIT”
On June 9, MIT joined 23 other U.S. research universities in an amicus (“friend of the court”) brief accompanying a lawsuit that Harvard University filed to block the Trump administration’s attempt to eliminate all federal grant funding. The brief was co-signed by several peer institutions, including Princeton and Stanford. However, Columbia and Cornell were notably missing. The Trump administration has taken steps to sever all federal ties with Harvard, one of the signatories of the brief. In May, the government attempted to halt all international student enrollment at the school, an effort that was blocked by a federal judge in Boston.
That afternoon, MIT President Sally Kornbluth wrote in an email to the Institute community stating, “Although the value to the public of federally funded university research feels obvious to us at MIT, we felt compelled to make the case for its countless benefits to the court and, in effect, to the American people."
Kornbluth wrote, “The distinctive US model of government support for scientific research is a decisive American success story.” The brief cites dozens of instances in which federal support of science resulted in tangible societal impact, from the invention of radar by MIT’s Radiation Laboratory during World War II to the development of COVID-19 vaccines by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania.
Kornbluth stated the brief “makes [it] clear that arbitrary cuts to the research ecosystem could have very serious consequences.” She added that the brief “emphasizes the public interest in protecting the research enterprise, both as a source of discoveries, inventions and cures with direct benefits in people’s daily lives and as a driving force for economic competitiveness, job creation and national security.”
Kornbluth concluded her update, writing, “the subject of this amicus is only one of several current threats” to the Institute and its peer universities. She stated that finding “constructive practical ways to address these concerns is my highest priority.”
Further information on MIT’s response to recent federal government actions can be found on MIT's response to government page. MIT is currently involved in two suits: 1) in response to funding cuts to the National Science Foundation and 2) in response to the US Department of Energy cutting funding for indirect research costs. funding cuts by the National Science Foundation.