Harvard University is urgently seeking corporate sponsors to keep its science labs running after the Trump administration cancelled hundreds of its federal research grants, cutting off more than $200 million in expected funding this year for its T.H. Chan School of Public Health alone, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The funding loss, which administrators have called “catastrophic,” has already triggered layoffs and threatens to shut down half of the school’s federally supported research in the next fiscal year. “The situation is far more dire at the Chan school than any other Harvard school,” said Sarah Branstrator, the school’s managing director of academic strategy and research partnerships.
The cuts are part of a broader move by the Trump administration, which has placed more than $10 billion in federal research funds under review or cancellation across elite universities, citing concerns over antisemitism and DEI policies. Harvard, NYU, and others have been directly affected and are now ramping up efforts to secure private-sector funding to keep their research programs afloat.
Universities pivot to industry to stay afloat
To fill the gap, Harvard and peer institutions are now actively engaging tech and pharmaceutical companies for funding partnerships. At the Chan School, talks are underway to bring in corporate support for Ph.D. students and postdoctoral researchers at an annual cost of about $100,000 per scholar. The school is also leaning on alumni in industry and faculty on scientific advisory boards to open doors for collaborations.
Even if federal support returns, Branstrator said, the school will continue to pursue outside funding to reduce long-term reliance on government grants. Historically, Chan has received only 14–18% of its research funding from non-government sources—a figure the school now aims to increase significantly.
Talks extend across Harvard, NYU, and others
Elsewhere at Harvard, similar efforts are underway. The medical school, which has lost about $230 million in grants, is expanding a 2020 biotech partnership model to connect company research labs with faculty projects. AbbVie has already contributed $30 million to such efforts, and discussions are ongoing with others in the pharma sector.
At the Wyss Institute for biologically inspired engineering, where industry funding accounted for 25% of revenue last year, talks with companies have become a top priority, according to founding director Donald Ingber.
NYU is also intensifying its search for corporate backers. In a strategy meeting earlier this year, university officials discussed targeting companies like Apple, Microsoft, LG, and Pfizer for partnerships, according to internal documents described to the Wall Street Journal.
Private money helps—but can’t replace federal scale
While corporate funding is growing, university officials caution that it can’t fully substitute for federal support. “It’s not feasible to imagine industry would be a substitute for the federal government,” said Benjamin Hermalin, provost of the University of California, Berkeley, where just 7% of research funds come from industry.
Harvard, despite its $53.2 billion endowment, cannot reallocate funds freely—over 80% of the endowment is locked into specific purposes. Other alternative sources, like foundations and individual donors, offer limited scale. In recent weeks, the Chan School raised over $3.5 million from private donors and an additional $350,000 from alumni.
Broader backlash and lobbying efforts
More than 200 CEOs have signed an open letter urging the White House and Congress to reverse the cuts, arguing that weakening university research funding threatens U.S. innovation. Blackstone CEO Steve Schwarzman has reportedly asked his firm’s investment committee to find ways to support universities financially, including through real estate and life sciences infrastructure.
Meanwhile, Harvard is also in talks with the federal government to resolve ongoing legal disputes over the cuts. Trump has said on social media that discussions are underway, though Harvard has declined to comment.
“We’re not standing still,” Branstrator said. “The priority now is to protect our research mission—by any means available.”
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