Their complaint, filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, aims to challenge the ripple effects of terminated grants that have led to significant layoffs and stalled a multitude of research projects.

The legal action emerged thanks to Claudia Polsky, founding director of the environmental law clinic at UC Berkeley. Without facing cuts herself, Polsky still felt compelled to unite her colleagues and create a class-action suit that could reverberate beyond California. Supported by UC Berkeley Law Dean Erwin Chemerinsky, she believes faculty must be proactive in defending their research work.

According to the lawsuit, which identifies President Trump and 16 federal agencies, including the National Institutes of Health and the Environmental Protection Agency, the funding cuts have severely hit the University of California system. The UC schools, significant beneficiaries of federal research grants, received $4 billion last year alone but now face potential losses in the hundreds of millions of dollars. This has already triggered a hiring freeze across the UC system.

Polsky’s legal team includes plaintiffs like Jedda Foreman, whose interactive museum lost over $6 million in canceled grants, and Christine Philliou, whose $250,000 historical research grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities was inexplicably terminated. Ken Alex, a researcher studying methane emissions with EPA funding, also finds himself grappling with abrupt funding termination.

These cuts have prompted numerous faculty members to protest, an unusual move even for the activist-prone Berkeley. The Academic Senate has also voiced its opposition, urging against any unwarranted governmental interference.

Despite the immediate setback, the UC system spokesperson assures that research priorities are being carefully reviewed. The outcome of this lawsuit could set a precedent, potentially reshaping how government funding influences academic research nationwide.