Update on Federal Agency Activities, Nano Facilities Merger, and Welcome to Rob MacCoun, SAVP for Research
Dear Chairs and Directors,
This month, I’m sharing updates on four topics:
- Federal agency activities
- Update on Nano merger
- GrantForward: new funding search platform
- Welcoming Rob MacCoun, senior associate vice provost for research
Please share relevant parts of this letter with your faculty, staff, postdocs, and graduate students—anyone who may find the information and links helpful.
Ongoing Federal Agency Activities
Stanford continues to draw down funds on existing federal awards, submit grant proposals, and receive new awards. The vast majority of our federal grants have not been directly impacted by the various actions taken by agencies over the last three months.
However, there are ongoing disruptions. Approximately 40 Stanford awards have been terminated. The cancellations have come from multiple agencies. The most common type of cancellation at this point involves subcontracts to Stanford from other universities, where that university has experienced a major funding “freeze”.
When termination notices arrive, staff in the Office of Research Administration (or RMG) notify the relevant school dean and the project Principal Investigator (PI) to advise on next steps. (Note: If you receive a cancellation letter directly, please forward it to osr_notifications@stanford.edu.) We are working with the Office of General Counsel to support PIs who wish to appeal terminations.
We are regularly adding guidance to the ORA website and encourage you to check that page. I continue to seek out opportunities to keep our community updated. Expect another campus-wide Town Hall for faculty and staff in May. In the meantime, don’t hesitate to contact Russell Brewer, Jodi Prochaska , or me if you have questions or need support on any matter related to disruptions in federally funded research.
Update on Nano Merger
Stanford is home to two premier nano facilities: the Stanford Nanofabrication Facility (SNF) and the Stanford Nano Shared Facilities (SNSF). Starting September 1, 2025, SNF and SNSF will merge into a single, integrated, shared nano-user facility. The merged organization will become Stanford’s largest shared user facility, bringing together two professional teams to advance nanotechnology research and education at Stanford.
The primary goal of merging SNF and SNSF is to improve the researcher experience by streamlining processes, optimizing equipment performance and availability, and enhancing research and data infrastructure.
A working group consisting of faculty and staff is planning the merger. To engage the lab communities in the unification process, we have begun hosting listening sessions with users and staff associated with both facilities. Your input is most welcome on what is working well with SNF and SNSF, what you value most from these cores, and what changes should be made to improve the researcher experience. You may use this community input form to share your input.
New Funding Search Platform: Transition to GrantForward
This summer, VPDoR is transitioning Stanford’s funding opportunity database from Pivot-RP to GrantForward. After conducting a trial and considering user feedback, GrantForward was selected for its usability and cost-effectiveness. To ensure continuity as we sunset Pivot this summer, we encourage you to explore the GrantForward platform, create a Researcher Profile, and set up funding alerts. We are offering live webinars to discuss search strategies and provide personalized guidance—dates and registration links are available on the RDO website. If you have additional questions about this transition, please contact Jessica Boydston at rdo-funding-programs@stanford.edu.
Welcome, Rob MacCoun, Senior Associate Vice Provost for Research
On April 1st, Rob MacCoun, James and Patricia Kowal Professor of Law, Professor of Psychology (by courtesy), and Senior Fellow at the Freeman-Spogli Institute, joined VPDoR as Senior Associate Vice Provost for Research. Rob has previously held a number of faculty leadership positions at Berkeley and Stanford. He brings deep expertise in public policy and social science. Rob will be primarily engaged in projects across campus aimed at supporting and improving the experience of researchers in the humanities and social sciences.
Stay safe and be well,
David