Federal Government Shutdown 

No awards will be issued by federal sponsors during the funding lapse. Award actions under negotiation at the time of the shutdown and multi-year contracts that end after the current fiscal year ends may be put on hold by the sponsor. Federal employees will not be available to conduct routine business.

OSP will continue to review, approve and submit proposals to federal sponsors to the greatest extent possible. However, in some cases new applications may not be accepted. This will depend on each agencies internal approach. Additionally, there will likely be no help desk or technical support available for federal government electronic systems.

• NSF's contingency plan states that Research.gov will remain available for use during a lapse in appropriations. However, responses will be deferred until normal operations resume. 
• The Department of Health and Human Services will maintain the Grants.gov system in an operational status, but with reduced support staff presence. Some agency specific guidance regarding submissions during the FY24 shutdown are available.  In the most recent shutdown, NIH allowed submissions via Cayuse to Grants.gov but they were held and not received by the eRA Commons until the shutdown was over. The eRA Commons HelpDesk was also unavailable. 

Federal agencies are required to have contingency plans in place and be prepared to implement them. OSP will announce any updates to federal agency operations on this page. See the  list of Agency Contingency Plans

Review panels, peer reviews/study sections, etc. are expected not to occur. Please anticipate delays in start dates if awaiting review. If you are a reviewer, it is likely that reviews scheduled during the shutdown will be cancelled and rescheduled to a later date.

Spending on awards and award modifications not yet received is the decision of the unit that will administer the award. OSP will continue to process all approved requests for preaward spending, preliminary projects, and preliminary extensions.

Department chairs, unit directors, deans and vice presidents should carefully consider the additional risk caused by the shutdown and, if desired, discuss requests with OSP prior to endorsing such requests.

The determination of how long federally funded projects can be supported by the University depends on the resources at each individual campus and any alternate financial resources. The longer the shutdown continues, the more difficult it will be for those directly impacted by the shutdown.

No. Routine, ongoing operational and administrative activities relating to grant or contract administration cannot continue. Operational and administrative activities related to the Federal oversight of research regulations and its administration of grants, cooperative agreements, and contracts will temporarily cease.

Agency personnel most likely will not be available for approvals, supervisory support, and other administrative functions.

This depends on the agency and the system the agency uses. It is likely that payment processing will be discontinued during the shutdown. 

In some cases, invoice platforms may remain available for submission and, as much as possible, invoicing should continue as normal.

Stipends and payments are likely to be suspended.

It is recommended that the campus Graduate Division and/or Financial Aid Office identify any students who are working on federally-funded research projects for course credit.

If the students cannot complete such work due to a federal shutdown, the campus should explore whether the students can engage in unaffected activities that could count for partial credit (for example, a classroom component or independent study).

Students who fall below a certain number of units per quarter (or semester) could risk jeopardizing their student aid financial packages and should consult with a campus financial aid advisor.

Work on federal awards currently in hand may continue to the extent that funding is available and such performance does not require federal staff intervention, unless the federal sponsor issues a stop-work order. If a stop-work order is issued, OSP will receive a notice from the federal sponsor and will inform the PI and department. Projects funded by contracts or cooperative agreements are more likely to receive stop-work orders or performance suspension notices than projects funded by grants.

The shutdown does not waive or alter the University's obligation to comply with active award terms and conditions, federal regulations, rules and policies.

If a stop-work order is issued, OSP will receive a notice from the federal sponsor and will inform the PI and department. Through a stop-work order, the sponsor has the ability to require the University to immediately stop all, or any part, of the work for up to 90 days.

After receipt of a stop-work order, the University is required to comply with its terms and take all reasonable steps to minimize the incurrence of costs allocable to the work covered by the order during the period of work stoppage.

The stop-work order should immediately be submitted by the department via eAward as a modification.

• The eAward transaction should reflect the revised project end date, revised budget and budget end dates.
• If a subaward/s exist, a separate eAward transaction should be submitted to halt each applicable subcontract.

The PI and department may need to:

1. Complete performance of the work not stopped
2. Cancel or divert applicable commitments covering personal services that extend beyond the effective date of stoppage
3. Abstain from placing any orders, except as necessary to complete any portion of the contract not included in the stoppage

Within a period of 90 days after a stop-work order is delivered, the University may resume work. However, the PI and/or department should verify status with OSP prior to resuming work. 

The PI can submit a request for adjustment to the period of performance and/or costs if:

1. The time required to complete the work and/or the University's costs are increased as a result of the stop work order
2. The University asserts its right to the adjustment within 30 days after the end of the period of work stoppage

If a stop work order is not cancelled, the sponsor may allow reasonable costs resulting from the stop work order.

See the Stop Work Order Procedure