Update: Impact of Federal Government Shutdown on Sponsored Programs

David Norton, Vice President for Research

As the federal government shutdown stretches into its second week, the Office of Research can provide the following update regarding federally sponsored research activities.

As previously indicated, all work on grant and contracts which have funding authorized by federal agencies should continue unabated at this time.  If you have received an NOA from the Office of Research and have not received specific direction in the form of a Stop Work Order, you should continue the project without interruption.  Please note that most agency personnel are not be available for approvals, questions or other administrative functions.

The two systems that support NSF and NIH, namely NIH Commons and NSF Fastlane, are not functioning.  These sponsors have instructed universities not to submit proposals during this time; deadlines will be reposted whenever the shutdown is over.

The level of guidance regarding proposal deadlines and system availability from other federal agencies varies.  We have created a webpage compiling known agency status, available at: http://research.ufl.edu/faculty-and-staff/initiatives/federal-government-shutdown.html. The university recommends that, lacking specific direction from your program or grants office to do otherwise, you proceed with proposal and report submission as originally schedule and assume that deadlines remain unaffected.  Submission of proposals should proceed although reviews as the agency will likely not occur until after the shutdown.

In addition, please note:

• 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 are not be working.  New awards will not be issued and most communication including questions and prior approval requests will not be answered.

We continue to monitor the impact on federal agency activities and will keep the UF research community informed.