Video transcript: A message from President Kornbluth about funding and the talent pipeline

Hello, everyone.

It’s been a while since I’ve spoken with you all.

But the Institute is facing ongoing challenges in two related areas: funding, and our talent pipeline.

So I thought you’d appreciate hearing the facts.

First, funding.

For more than a year, we’ve all worked on responding to extraordinary new and sustained pressures on our budget (due largely to the heavy new 8% tax on our endowment returns, a burden for MIT and only a few other peer schools).

Across the Institute – centrally and in local units – it was clear to everyone that change was imperative, and you all took the challenge head on. That required serious effort and sacrifice. Some units are still working through the process, and I know the cuts have been painful.

But please know that your efforts have been incredibly valuable – and I appreciate everything you’ve done to get us here.

Through all of this, of course, we’ve kept our eyes on Washington. In February, we heard welcome news regarding Congressional appropriations: Funding for many research agencies had been at least partially restored.

The news seemed encouraging enough that I started hearing people ask if maybe these new developments in DC meant that we could step back from some of the budget cuts at MIT or at least feel confident that we’re past the storm.

I really wish we could! But unfortunately, the answer is no – for a set of reasons.

First, although Congress restored substantial agency funding, we can see in the numbers that federal funding is not actually flowing to MIT the way it typically has. Relatedly, some federal agencies are discussing the possibility of factoring in geography when they allocate their funds, rather than basing decisions on scientific merit alone.

Compared to this time last year, MIT has experienced a decline in campus research activity funded by federal awards of more than 20%. Still more concerning is that our number of new federal research awards is also down more than 20%.

While we’ve seen encouraging growth in research funding from other sponsors, it’s not nearly enough to offset the federal decline.

So here’s the big picture: Counting federal and non-federal sources together, our campus sponsored-research activity is now 10% smaller than it was a year ago. That is a striking loss for one of the most influential and productive research communities in the world.

Now, the second challenge: Talent.

I’ve said many times that MIT is in the talent business. Which means we’re very alert to changes in our talent pipeline. 

We’ve already seen clear signs that policy changes affecting international students and scholars are discouraging extremely talented individuals from applying to join our community. 

Right now, we’re coming to the end of admissions season.

For departments across the Institute, the funding uncertainty I talked about has made them cautious about admitting new graduate students. 

That caution is completely understandable: If federal grants continue to decrease, PIs just won’t have the funds to support additional students! 

But the cumulative impact directly affects our mission of research and education: Our graduate student enrollment decreased this year…and we expect that to continue next year.

Outside of Sloan and the EECS MEng program, still in the midst of admissions, compared with 2024, our departments’ new enrollments for next year are down close to 20%.

That means that, in total, outside of Sloan, we could have about 500 fewer graduate students. Which means we’ll have many fewer students advancing the work of MIT, and undergraduates will have fewer grad students as mentors in their research.

But to me, far and away the worst impact is that hundreds of exceptionally talented young people will not have the benefit of an MIT education – and we won’t have the benefit of their creative brilliance.

As I’m sure you all understand, responding to these new pressures is not just a matter of belt-tightening – and it’s not “just trimming around the edges.”

Last week, I spoke with several senior faculty members, in very different fields, all with long records of winning significant grants. All of them are now having to cut graduate students, postdocs and particular avenues of research.

At the Institute level, we are working on plans to help support groups whose operations are seriously impacted by current federal funding lapses. But that will not be a long-term solution.

The fact is that we’re looking at a real drop in research being done by the people of MIT. It’s a loss of momentum for faculty and students.

And frankly, it’s a loss for the nation: When you shrink the pipeline of basic discovery research, you choke off the flow of future solutions, innovations and cures – and you shrink the supply of future scientists.

I know that hearing these facts all together feels pretty “chilly and overcast.”

But I also know that, over its long history, MIT has confronted and pushed through many serious storms before.

And I take heart in what I see here on campus every day: The same MIT intensity. The same enthusiasm. The same creativity and drive.

And the people of MIT are applying that same energy in many different ways to meet these new challenges to our mission.

•    Our faculty are rising to the moment with exciting ideas to meet emerging federal opportunities. For the Department of Energy’s new Genesis Mission – in a herculean effort by our faculty and administrative staff – MIT PIs recently submitted 176 grant proposals. These proposals offer a snapshot of first-class MIT science and engineering, in service to the nation.

•    We’re aggressively pursuing new sources of funding, especially from industry, and we’re building on deep relationships, like the MIT-IBM Computing Research Lab, which we recently launched to shape the future of AI and quantum computing.

•    We’re exploring new ways to generate income through educational offerings (like masters'-only programs) that match our mission.

•    With a new leader for our Resource Development team, we’re taking a fresh look at how to attract more support through philanthropy.

•    And our alumni and friends are stepping up, both with donations and as champions for the value of MIT.

We need to advocate for ourselves, and for America’s research universities, in all these ways and more.

Our Washington Office is working energetically, on both sides of the aisle, to raise awareness about the damage the endowment tax is doing to MIT and to a handful of our peer schools.

We’re pursuing new ways to engage policymakers and the public around the transformative impact of curiosity-driven science.

And I’m meeting frequently with leaders in Congress and the Administration, to make the case for MIT’s value to the nation.

I can do this with confidence because I know you’re all here, working to realize our mission.

Thank you for that – and for all you’ve done, and will do, to help the Institute navigate this difficult time.