Impact of Federal Government Shutdown on Federally Sponsored Research

David Norton, Vice President for Research

At this time, a federal government shutdown appears likely.  In the event of any such shutdown, activities involving federal agencies will be significantly interrupted.  The Office of Research is working to stay abreast of each agency’s plans in the event of shutdown.  Specifics of each agency’s plan are available at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/contingency-plans.

In the event of the shutdown, grant and contract work previously authorized by federal sponsors should continue.  The University can support continued work on sponsored projects for a period of at least two months.  Unless provided a Stop Work Order or other such notification, work and spending on awards already provided to the University should continue without interruption.  Please note that most agency personnel will not be available for approvals, questions or other administrative functions.

Proposal deadlines for NIH solicitations appear to remain valid during the shutdown.  Grants.gov will be operational through the shutdown and will accept applications. However, for NIH applications the Grants.gov system will only accept and store applications. Applications will not be processed further until such time as the authority and funding to return to normal business operations are restored.  As the University uses Cayuse for many grants.gov applications, Cayuse will be functional and will support transmission of applications to Grants.gov.  NSF Fastlane and NIH Commons will not be operational.  NSF solicitations whose deadline occurs during a shutdown will be rescheduled.  We have no specific information for other agencies, but will provide as soon as received.

Additional information

• Spending on awards (including continuing or incremental funding) not yet received is of significantly higher risk and should be      considered with great care by the PI, the Chair and Dean.  Temporary accounts (‘Temps’) for specific projects will be considered but only after additional scrutiny by Office of Research leadership.
• Most federal employees responsible for grant and contract administration will not be working.
• Electronic administrative systems may or may not be      available, and no new awards will be issued.

For additional information, please contact Stephanie Gray, Division of Sponsored Programs at slgray@ufl.edu.