Dear Colleagues:
It is anticipated that the federal government will shut down all non-essential operations on October 1, 2023 due to Congress’ failure to pass appropriations bills to fund government operations in the new federal fiscal year. A federal government shutdown will impact UCI’s research enterprise.
If the government shuts down, the administration, distribution, and funding of federal contracts and grants will be impacted as follows:
- Research.gov and Grants.gov systems are expected to remain operational; therefore, proposal deadlines will not be postponed unless an agency states so in their shutdown guidance. In addition, Principal Investigators should plan to submit (on time) any progress reports that become due at any time during a shutdown.
- Expect that the review of proposals by federal agencies will be delayed by the shutdown and the backlog of work that federal employees will face when the government reopens.
- Agencies will not issue new awards or amendments for grants, cooperative agreements, and contracts. In addition, awards currently being processed by a federal agency, but not issued before October 1 will be delayed.
The Office of Research has created a webpage that includes a link to guidance from the Research Policy Analysis and Coordination office at UCOP and a link to the US Office of Management and Budget’s index of agency shutdown contingency plans. The website can be found here: https://research.uci.edu/us-federal-government-shutdown-2023/
We strongly encourage all Principal Investigators to review the plan for agencies from which they receive research funding.
Please direct questions regarding the federal government shutdown and how it may impact research awards to the Federal Contract and Grant Officer assigned to your unit, Maria Diaz-Romero, Manager, Federal Sponsored Projects, Paul Lekutai, Director, Federal and Non-federal Sponsored Projects, or Nancy Lewis, Senior Director, Sponsored Projects Administration.
Nancy
University of California, Irvine