The University of Hawaiʻi is on track to break another record in extramural funding. Officials say UH was approaching almost $100 million more than last year. However, looming federal budget cuts are expected to affect that bottom line.
The Conversation talked Friday morning to Vassilis Syrmos, vice president for research and innovation. He was just named interim provost of the flagship Mānoa campus, replacing Michael Bruno, who returns to the faculty.
Syrmos said there is good and bad news on the funding front. A month ago, UH was looking at cuts of $70 million — that is now up to $80 million.
Interview highlights
On the breakdown of the federal cuts
VASSILIS SYRMOS: As of today, we have almost $82 million. It affects more than 100 people, and the payroll reduction the university would have to supplement is around $650,000 a month. There is a significant impact, but I think the worst is to come after this summer, after September 2025, when the federal fiscal year 2026 is going to start. That will reflect the president's budget request, which you may have heard, but it imposes a almost 60% reduction to the National Science Foundation, 40% reduction to the National Institutes of Health, a 38% reduction to NOAA, which is the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 30%, 34% to NASA. So these are draconian cuts. They're not just reductions, which they're going to be felt throughout, not only here in the state of Hawaiʻi, but also throughout the United States and in every institution of higher education. ... Even this year, which is going to close two weeks from now, is going to be a record year because of all the momentum, but then you're going to see a significant drop next year because the incoming awards has significantly decelerated. So we were expecting to be up to $750 million, $780 million this year. I think we're going to be around $710 million, $715 million, which is even an unprecedented number, almost $100 million more than last year. But then we're going to have a dramatic drop, which is going to shock the system.
On the implications for the future of science and research
SYRMOS: It is not only about money and the financial implications that this administration is bringing to the table for universities. In my mind, the most negative implication is the loss of young scientists, young engineers, who are the future of our country when it comes to innovation, research, medical research. And once you lose that, and it is easy to lose it, it's very difficult to recreate it, because even if you lose that over the next three, four, five years, it's going to be almost impossible to recreate it over the next decade. So the implications are very broad, and they go beyond the financial piece. ... The United States has been the leader in actually attracting the best and the brightest from every corner of Earth. So if we lose that competitive advantage, then we're going to lose our innovation, the drive for innovation, which actually makes this country a leader, and we are handing it off to other countries. That's what we're doing right now. So when we're talking about stopping scientists from India, from China, from wherever they're coming in the United States, we're actually stopping the future of research and innovation in this country. It's as simple as that. Everybody in the world wants to come in the United States to do great science. It has been like that over the last 60 years.
On projects that would be affected by funding cuts
SYRMOS: Part of what funds the Research Corporation of the University of Hawaiʻi, actually, in its entirety, it is funded out of our administrative revenue, facilities and administrative, the F&A rate. This is going to cripple research infrastructure. … We received significant terminations for some of our Department of Defense grants that had to do with energy resilience, climate adaptation. …. We went back to the Department of Defense and the Navy, and we tried to explain to them what they're doing, and also we talked to our congressional delegation, and between us and them and the Navy itself, we were able to reverse some of these cuts. So we were able to reverse, like, 50% of those cuts. … The University of Hawaiʻi, in the state of Hawaiʻi, is known as a leader in astronomy and oceanography. These are two top-tier programs in the world. And given the current budget with the National Science Foundation, not only it takes out the construction for the Thirty Meter Telescope, and it is what it is, but unfortunately, that drastic reduction in the National Science Foundation budget, it will affect several Maunakea astronomy operations on the mountain, and some of them may not be able to survive. That truly is a big concern for us.
On looking to the future
SYRMOS: What I want to say is that even this is going to pass. We are resilient. We are a great institution. We have great faculty, and things will hopefully turn to normalcy again.
This story aired on The Conversation on June 13, 2025. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. Hannah Kaʻiulani Coburn adapted this interview for the web.
