A few hundred students, faculty and community members gathered mid day outside Montana State University’s Main Hall in support of federal research dollars continuing to flow to the treasure state.
Montana State University is one of about 150 universities in the country classified as an R1 institution, by Carnegie Commission on Higher Education. The designation is for a high level of research activity.
As a part of cuts made by the Department of Government Efficiency or DOGE, two grants totaling $16 million dollars have already been cut at MSU and 58 federal grants are paused for under review, according to a flyer distributed by Stand Up for Science.
Roland Hatzenpichler is a faculty member at the University in the Chemistry and Biochemistry department. His research studies bacteria in thermal pools of Yellowstone, inside human digestion organs and at the sea floor depths.
He helped organize the rally on campus outside of his role at the University.
“70% of any grant from the federal government goes to paying my students, my research staff, and so on. These are people that live in this community” Hatzenpichler said.
He says the influx of cash ripples beyond the scientific community, as they spend money in town.
“For every dollar that the federal government sends in research funds to Montana there’s an economic impact of $2.24” Hatzenpichler said.
He says universities do not spend state funds or student tuition on research. Much of the indirect costs of research such as buildings and utilities are covered by federal grants . He says Montana State receives about $33 million per year to cover those indirect expenses.
Last Month the Trump administration put a 15% cap on funding indirect costs.
DOGE said the cap is meant to maximize government efficiency and to allocate more funding directly to scientific funding.
A federal judge in Massachusetts paused the cap from taking effect as its legality is being challenged in court. Hatzenpichler is concerned about how he thinks it could impact Montana, if it goes through.
“If this is the case, research at Montana State can close full stop. There’s no chance MSU will recover from that and virtually no public universities can survive this.”
