Connecticut pledged $35 million to support research programs at the University of Connecticut and UConn Health after the Trump administration cut $95 million in federal funding. Gov. Ned Lamont said the appropriation will come from a $500 million contingency fund created to address human service programs imperiled by sweeping federal actions. University officials framed the state funding as a bridge while federal grant and contract reductions continue to disrupt research planning. UConn’s interim vice president for research, innovation and entrepreneurship, Lindsay DiStefano, described “unexpected terminations” and “near daily threats of disruption” to the research enterprise. Although the state amount does not fully replace what UConn Health and the broader UConn research enterprise lost, professors and administrators called it a “vital lifeline” to protect ongoing work and institutional capacity in scientific areas that federal agencies have deprioritized.