Researchers at Syracuse University are feeling the pressure of the government shutdown as they continue work without federal funding.

Since the government shut down on Oct. 1, SU has received two Stop-Work Orders for research projects, meaning that the federal government will not pay researchers for the work they do during the shutdown, said Gina Lee-Glauser, vice president for research at SU.  The university is currently covering the expenses of all researchers — both those who have and have not received Stop-Work Orders — but funding is limited, she added.

“It is what it is,” she said. “When that happens the only thing we can do is to tell the faculty to stop the work and that they potentially might not get paid.”

Additionally, the delay to research proposals caused by the shutdown will increase competition for funding once the government reopens, she said.

For the past 15 days, the U.S. government has been at a standstill as Americans wait for Congress members to finish negotiations and come to a decision about budget for the 2014 fiscal year.

For the two projects that have received Stop-Work Orders, faculty and grad students are moving on with the projects. But the university will not be reimbursed by the federal government at the end of the shutdown for the cost of programs that received Stop-Work Orders, Lee-Glauser said.

Most research projects at SU have not received Stop-Work Orders. For projects that did not receive Stop-Work Orders, the university is currently covering costs for these projects but will be reimbursed when the shutdown ends, she said.

“However, if it gets delayed any longer our ability to holding that on is getting tougher and tougher,” Lee-Glauser said.

Some research programs, like the Syracuse Biomaterials Institute, did not receive a Stop-Work Order and hasn’t been affected at all, said Patrick Mather, director of the program. He explained that its federal grants are updated annually, causing the program to be “insulated a little bit since [the] contracts are already awarded.”

There are about a dozen proposals currently under review for future funding, but with the shutdown, the evaluation process is currently on hold, leading to a delay of new awards, Mather said.

“The longer it goes on the more likely that there will be delays in start dates in proportion to the length of the delay,” he said.

Deadlines for the proposals are fast approaching, Lee-Glauser, the vice president for research, said.

“Our faculty is really stressed,” Lee-Glauser said. “There are number of proposals due and at this point nothing is open.  And when the government opens, part of the challenge now, the faculty is worried that the competition is going to be more stiff.”

Typically, the success rate of research proposals is about 20 percent, said Lee-Glauser. But now the success rate could drop to 15, or even 10 percent, she said.

Although Lee-Glauser said the research faculty are all very stressed, she does not think that SU is in that bad of shape because they are providing the monetary means to allow SU researchers to continue their work.

“Students need to take this as a learning opportunity,” said Lee-Glauser.  “We need to make sure we are informed and address our elected officials so that they don’t lock horns like this again.”

Published on October 16, 2013 at 12:16 am

Contact Kate: kacapoda@syr.edu