BREAKING NEWS: Harvard cancer grant's loss is Idaho trade school's big gain

[spooky3]

34. There are two other aspects that some people aren't considering.

The govt funds aren’t a gift. They are competitive and contracted with universities whose scholars and facilities do research both parties have agreed to. Backing out is analogous to your contracting with someone to provide a service to you over five years, but then refusing to pay, after they have made investments to perform those services. They would likely sue you, and win.

Even then, government is not paying the full costs of the research, even if they pay a 30 percent or more “overhead” charge. If they were they would just hire researchers themselves. Instead, the university is providing the infrastructure and likely researchers and their assistants and support staff are contributing more expertise and effort beyond the $ of the grant—paid for example in the form of salaries and benefits by the universities. So it is a win-win—each leverages their contributions to get more out of the arrangement than if only one side participated.