Navigating uncertainties in federal research funding: Tips for a better 2026
In 2025, federal research funding was fundamentally changed by executive branch directives aimed at reshaping scientific priorities and administrative oversight. The year began with unprecedented funding freezes, legal battles with leading US universities, and ended on a note of uncertainty.
This represented a seismic shift in research funding that left researchers unsettled and upended decades of government support for scientific research. Many questions remain, and the long-term impacts are yet to be felt. Nature put the effects of these 2025 funding policies into numbers, while Science dedicated a special issue to exploring this topic, including the effects on the scientific workforce and how scientific advocacy will have to evolve in the face of the Trump administration. In spite of these challenges, not all is doom and gloom: for example, in early January 2026 an appeals court upheld a lower court’s ruling that the 15% cap on indirect costs is illegal.
To digress a moment: many of us here at 10x Genomics are former (or current) researchers. We see you, and we want to reiterate that your research matters, that your work is important, and that we recognize the challenges you’re facing. That’s why we’re proposing these resources and information to aid in your funding search and help you make the most of your research budget.
So how can you move forward in these uncertain times?
Get involved in scientific advocacy groups and explore state funding
One of the first steps is to speak out and engage. There are many groups, including the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), that provide guidance on advocacy groups and how to get involved on both local and broader levels.
Also on a more local level is state funding. While it does not match the extent of federal funding, this approach is being undertaken by several states. This includes Massachusetts, which launched $400M in funding via its Discovery, Research and Innovation for a Vibrant Economy (DRIVE) program. Read more about states pioneering scientific research funding here.
Expand your lab’s capabilities with instrumentation grants
Doing new and exciting science requires new and exciting instrumentation. While NIH and NSF project funding opportunities remain the first stop for researchers, capital expenditure (capex) funding can inflate budgets and be harder to write into these grants.
At the time of this writing, there are several active major funding opportunities for instrumentation, including the Shared Instrumentation and High-End Instrumentation grants, which provide support for instrumentation ranging between 750,000 and 2,000,000, respectively. Both have deadlines of June 1, 2026 for a February 2027 start date.
The Major Research Instrumentation program also provides two tiers of funding opportunities for scientific instrumentation, with awards ranging from 1.4M and 3M. Roughly 100 awards are expected to be funded, with the submission window this year ranging from October 15–November 16, 2026.
Optimize your pilot experiments
It’s a catch-22: utilizing cutting-edge technology for compelling pilot data is a major force multiplier for grant success, but those early studies can feel out of reach, especially on newer, expensive technologies, like single cell and spatial platforms. However, a well designed pilot study can minimize upfront costs and provide compelling data.
Imaging-based spatial transcriptomics is a stellar example, given cost is influenced not by sample number but by total tissue area. Take this example from TGen, in which they looked at different tissue configurations for 30 samples on the Xenium platform. By designing a custom square 3 mm TMA punch, Dr. Nick Banovich, was able to maximize the tissue area and number of samples per slide to decrease the cost by >80%.
When considering pilot study designs, we also encourage you to reach out to your local sales representative or support team, even if you are not a customer yet. They can help provide expert guidance on the most economical ways to achieve your goals, as well as, put you in contact with local core labs.
Working on a grant? Make sure to check out our grant application resources for the Chromium single cell, Xenium spatial, and Visium spatial platforms.