Research Resilience Fund Frequently Asked Questions

Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis. Reviewers will consider the significance of the funding gap, feasibility, strategic alignment, team capability, future funding potential, and budget appropriateness.

Applicants do not need to show a terminated or delayed federal award. Instead, they should explain the nature of the funding gap or research disruption and how the new support will help. Proposals primarily requesting faculty salary support are limited to tenure-track and tenured faculty.

The program can support:

• sustaining essential research during a funding gap
• shifting a project in a new direction
• building toward future external funding
• supporting research personnel
• purchasing supplies or materials
• funding travel
• covering equipment or computing needs
• other essential research-related costs

Awards may also be applied toward salary coverage as warranted, and funds will continue to be available to support PhD students and postdocs in completing their studies.

Johns Hopkins launched the Pivot Grants and Bridge Grants programs in 2025 to support faculty affected by federal funding disruptions. Pivot Grants supported faculty whose federal research awards had been terminated, helping them pivot toward new research directions or funding sources. Bridge Grants supported faculty whose federal research awards had been delayed, helping sustain research programs during a temporary gap in funding.

The Research Resilience Fund updates and expands the Pivot and Bridge Programs by providing a single, unified funding opportunity with broader eligibility, a larger award ceiling, a longer performance period, and a simpler application process. The university will earmark $60 million annually over the next two years for the program in order to meet the needs of faculty, students, and research teams continuing to face federal grant terminations or delays, or otherwise experiencing the broader effects of the changed research ecosystem.

The revised program is intended to:

• simplify access
• reduce administrative burden
• eliminate cost-sharing
• broaden support across disciplines
• better align institutional resources with current research needs

The program is intended as a temporary support measure to help bridge gaps and preserve research momentum, not as a replacement for federal research funding.

The research funding environment has continued to evolve, and faculty are facing a wider range of challenges than the Pivot and Bridge grants programs were designed to address. Over the past year and a half, Johns Hopkins has repeatedly updated the community on the significant and growing impacts of the contraction of federal research funding. The total outstanding value of the university’s multiyear federal research portfolio declined by more than $500 million in calendar year 2025, due in part to receiving 43% less in federal research funding and 28% fewer awards than the previous year, and those downward trends have continued into 2026.

The new program is intended as a temporary support measure to help bridge gaps and preserve research momentum, not as a replacement for federal research funding.

The university’s investment in the Research Resilience Fund is made possible through the reallocation of institutional funds, savings our community has achieved and will continue to achieve together from belt-tightening measures and a welcome $8.5 million in research funding from the State of Maryland.