On Feb. 10, 2025, 13 Tier 1 research institutions, including Brandeis, Cornell, MIT, Brown and more, filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Boston last week, attempting to block the Trump Administration and the National Institute of Health from slashing indirect costs by 15%. The unprecedented move is the latest in Trump’s ongoing initiative to cut costs, but comes at the expense of the life-saving research initiatives. Professor Michael Rosbash, speaking to the Associated Press, said universities “are completely dependent on indirect costs to keep the lights on, the heat on, collect the trash, deal with chemical waste and have deliveries of supplies.”

Indirect costs are things not directly attributed to a sole research project, but are still essential. According to the lawsuit, “Biocontainment laboratories needed for pathogenic research; blood banks and animal facilities for clinical testing; computer systems to analyze enormous volumes of data; information-technology and utility systems providing the backbone for those efforts; and researchers and administrative staff who keep the systems running—all are critical to cutting-edge research, but their costs typically cannot be allocated to any single project.” Sometimes called facilities and administrative costs.

At a town hall this week, Interim President Arthur Levine revealed that the university is currently getting 59% of direct costs to fund indirect costs, which jeopardizes millions of dollars in funding. Amid financial challenges across most universities, the move threatens smaller institutions especially who have limited endowments. After the lawsuit was filed, a judge granted a temporary restraining order, which prevented the NIH from carrying out the cuts before the lawsuit is heard in court.

President Levine also revealed an initiative to create more revenue streams, and as Brandeis continues to struggle with financial challenges, the executive order threatens to increase the deficit. Remaining optimistic about the outcome of the suit, President Levine assured students “I think in the end we’ll get our overhead recovery rate back.”