Funding freezes and unexpected disruptions can upend even the most well-run laboratories, forcing leaders to make difficult decisions with little time to react. What should continue, what can pause, and how do you make those calls with confidence? In this Q&A, Tracy Durnan offers a closer look at how lab leaders can navigate these moments and stay focused when priorities suddenly shift.
When a funding freeze or sudden operational disruption occurs, what should be a lab leader’s first steps in determining which activities must continue and which can pause? What criteria should guide those decisions?
First, it’s best not to leave these decisions for when a disruption occurs. Your lab’s disaster preparedness plan should already detail your lab’s most critical functions. To determine what those critical functions are, several criteria can be assessed:
- Deadlines: Do you have projects with funding deadlines that need to continue or funding will be lost? Do you have projects with other critical deadlines that are hard deadlines that must be met? Do you have staff working on projects they need to complete by a certain deadline, such as a grad student nearing the end of their training, a fellow who is there for a specific amount of time, or a visiting professor with limited time in your lab to complete their project?
- Lab’s mission: Consider what your lab’s mission is and what activities most contribute to that mission. Stay focused on the critical activities to keep your lab’s main mission moving forward.
- Competition: Are you aware of a competing research team that is working on any similar projects to the ones in your lab? If so, is there a race to get published before that other team?
- Expense: Are there projects that cost much more than others? Can you focus on projects with lower costs associated with them until funding improves?
Many laboratories run experiments that cannot easily be stopped without losing months of work. How can managers evaluate which experiments or research assets should be preserved during a disruption?
Again, this speaks to advanced planning. Labs should discuss these issues in advance so they have a plan in place when the time comes. Here are some considerations:
Timelines: Are you currently running timed animal or cell line experiments with several timelines already complete? If so, it’s critical to keep these going so as not to waste the time and money already put into the cost of the animals, staff, and supplies for these projects.
Deadlines: same deadline considerations as above, but with a focus on longitudinal studies that are already in process. Focus on long-term studies that have already begun and delay longitudinal studies that have not started, which will have high material and labor costs to complete.
Staffing becomes complicated during a funding freeze or operational slowdown. What strategies can lab leaders use to keep staff engaged and productive while also preparing for the possibility of budget cuts or project delays?
Cross-training is critical. Staff may leave during hiring freezes, and they will not be able to be replaced. It’s critical to ensure all staff are cross-trained to perform as many lab activities as possible so that the lab can keep running when there are staffing shortages.
If you have a small lab, consider working with collaborators to continue the critical work of your projects at times when staff and funds may be running low. In addition, cross-training allows staff to learn new skills. Ask your staff what techniques they would like to learn. If your lab does not do those techniques, consider whether there is another lab at your institute where that person could go train with a few hours a week to stay engaged and continue their career growth at times when formal training and pay raises may not be possible.
Take care of morale and mental health in your lab as well. Times of funding freezes are stressful. Make sure your lab work environment doesn’t add to that stress. Create a supportive environment where people want to work. Organize lab lunches and birthday celebrations to allow the team informal moments to bond and discuss the challenges. Be completely transparent with your team about what is going on at the organization level in terms of hiring freezes, pay freezes, budget cuts, and layoffs to build an environment of trust.
Also, ensure people know the positives of fiscal concerns as well as the negatives. The negatives can get caught up in the gossip mill, and sometimes people don’t hear about the positives. For example, there is a hiring freeze, but there won’t be layoffs. People are willing to stick out the tough times when they have a great work environment and trust their lab leadership.
Lab Management Certificate
The Lab Management certificate is more than training—it’s a professional advantage.
Gain critical skills and IACET-approved CEUs that make a measurable difference.
Funding freezes often introduce administrative and compliance challenges. What should lab leaders understand about working with finance teams, grant administrators, or institutional leadership when spending restrictions suddenly change?
I’ve found that communicating clearly with the teams who support labs in fiscal management and with institutional leadership about which needs are pressing vs. which can be delayed is very important. If your leadership understands that you can prioritize rather than just coming to them saying everything must continue now, without exception, they will be more willing to trust you and work with you to continue funding the most important projects. Priority should always be given to safety. You simply cannot compromise on safety equipment, supplies, and processes because funding is low. If a project cannot be done safely due to budget constraints, it needs to stop until funding improves. Your team is counting on you to advocate for their safety with your leadership.
In your experience, how can laboratories stretch existing resources during a disruption—for example, through shared equipment, collaboration with core facilities, or adjusting procurement and inventory practices?
Whenever possible, do not start a new longitudinal study or project without first buying all the supplies needed to complete the project. This is not always feasible due to storage and budget constraints, but when it is possible, this allows the project to continue even if there is a spending freeze because the supplies are already on hand.
Interested in lab leadership?
If a current project needs equipment, for instance, because something broke down that is beyond its useful life, collaborate with other labs at your institution to share their equipment. Offer to split maintenance costs with them, and it becomes a budget-reducing effort for both teams.
Stock up on laboratory basics if your lab storage allows during times when the budget is healthy, to allow supplies to be on hand during the leaner budget cycles.
Consider when equipment and staff resources are low, whether there is a core facility at your institute or in your community, or an outside vendor that you can send some work to that would be less expensive than hiring new staff or buying new equipment to keep your lab functions moving until funding is restored.
Looking beyond the immediate disruption, what lessons should laboratory leaders capture from these situations to strengthen their operational resilience and prepare for future emergencies?
Plan in advance! This is the number one way to reduce stress at the time of a crisis and prepare for the future. If you don’t have a laboratory disaster plan already in place that addresses critical lab functions and leadership continuity, get one into place as soon as possible.
