UW-Madison experienced a roughly 17% decline in federal research funding over the past year, she said. About 145 grants were terminated or faced stop-work orders, and as a result the university lost at least $27 million. Forty-three grants were later restored through legal challenges.
University researchers also received about 16% fewer awards in calendar year 2025, despite submitting nearly the same number of federal grant proposals as the year prior, said Vice Chancellor Dorota Grejner-Brzezinska, who oversees UW-Madison’s $1.93 billion research operation.