NEW YORK, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) -- U.S. universities are preparing for potential disruptions to funding, especially for scientific research, after President Donald Trump's acting budget director issued a sweeping memo directing agencies to halt federal financial grants and loans while the government reviews if the spending complies with recent executive orders, Bloomberg News has reported.

Harvard University, which received almost 700 million U.S. dollars in federal research dollars last academic year and has been under scrutiny over its response to antisemitism on campus, said the memo requires a "pause on a subset of federally funded research activities implicated in an evolving set of executive orders," according to a letter from its President Alan Garber.

The University of Chicago cautioned faculty about purchasing equipment, starting new experiments or embarking on travel related to their grants, said the report.

"We are extremely concerned about the impact of this action on our country's ability to maintain its scientific and technological lead against competitors and potential adversaries," Barbara Snyder, president of the Association of American Universities, which represents top research universities, was quoted as saying.

The University of Michigan and Ohio State University have posted the executive orders on their websites along with some guidance as school officials try to determine next steps. Leadership at Yale University advised faculty, staff and students to continue federally-funded work except for cases where the university has received specific stop-work orders, according to the report.

"While a federal judge temporarily blocked the freeze, some schools had already started to prepare, aware that the Trump administration would use funding as a lever to target Diversity, Equity and Inclusion efforts," noted the report.

College presidents have also sought to navigate anti-Israel protests and tackle antisemitism, which soared in the wake of Hamas' attack on Israel and the war, it added. Enditem

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