Your support of Stand Up for Princeton and Higher Education could not be more important than at this moment. We thank the many who have reached out directly to your representatives and senators regarding the endowment tax, and for all your messages sharing other ways you are standing up.
As Princeton and other universities evaluate the impact of the expanded endowment tax, federal funding cuts and uncertainty continue to threaten research that promises to strengthen the nation’s health, security and prosperity. With that in mind, this Stand Up newsletter focuses on Princeton research.
This edition’s Stand Up video features Professor Jacob N. Shapiro, a military veteran, speaking about university research in support of national security.
We also share two brief videos, one highlighting a Princeton research project whose federal funding has been paused and another whose recently announced findings would not have been possible without federal funding.
We invite you to learn more about these projects, share them on your social media channels and help support important projects like these.
Jacob Shapiro: Why I’m standing up
“Research and training at America’s universities are central to national security and have been since at least World War II.” — Jacob Shapiro, Professor of Politics and International Affairs at Princeton University
A spotlight on Princeton research
Here are two important federally funded Princeton research projects that have the potential to make real improvements in the lives of people across the globe.
- How can we eliminate harmful “forever chemicals?”
PFAS are a class of chemicals, used in everything from nonstick pans to toilet paper that researchers are discovering are harmful to human health. These “forever chemicals” have been found in groundwater, rain, soil and the food that people and animals eat. With support from the National Institutes of Health, a Princeton research team found a way to break down the chemicals using a common bacteria. Unfortunately, this work now faces an uncertain future due to federal funding cuts and unknowns about future funding.
https://youtu.be/9zqq7I0danA?si=Kxn5WVlboDKW2U9G - What can a map of a fruit fly brain tell us about curing diseases like Alzheimer’s?
With funding from the NIH, a Princeton-led team of scientists made a massive step toward understanding the human brain by building the first-ever roadmap of an adult fruit fly brain. This map will help us understand neural diseases and could lead to treatments. This work would not have been possible without federal funding of work at Princeton and elsewhere.
https://youtu.be/hg7QM9VruKk?si=KfMxzFWN2koCgIau
In the news
- The Wrecking of American Research (The Chronicle of Higher Education)
https://www.chronicle.com/article/the-wrecking-of- american-research - Harvard’s Standoff: The Research At Risk (Harvard Magazine)
https://www.harvardmagazine.com/2025/07/harvard-trump- research-cuts - Rock Stars of American Science May Soon Take Their Expertise Abroad. That Should Alarm All Americans (The Fulcrum, by Princeton’s Mariangela Lisanti)
https://thefulcrum.us/governance-legislation/us- scientists-considering-exodus- due-to-federal-research- funding-cuts
Support research excellence
Your gift could help sustain research that has the potential to be transformative or lifesaving. If you are interested in learning more about supporting research excellence funds at Princeton, please contact the Office of Advancement at 609-258-6160.
Share, forward and catch up
Share your success stories with us and we’ll feature them in future editions of this newsletter. Email us at standup@princeton.edu.
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