Two presidents at University of Maryland institutions are working with national higher education groups on a new proposal to help restore federal research funding cuts by the Trump administration.

University of Maryland, College Park President Darryll Pines and University of Maryland, Baltimore President Bruce Jarrell said during a livestream presentation on Thursday that the policy would address the slashing of so-called indirect cost rates for federal research projects, a funding system that has relied on federal government negotiations with individual universities.

Pines noted that having each university in the country battle for their own indirect rate lacks transparency and is often inefficient.

“I think having a better method is certainly good,” said Jarrell, UMB’s president. “We have to be dynamic in this situation.”

Neither president shared the details of the plans they are working on, but Jarrell said it would only work if universities “have a partner on the other side who is willing to negotiate with us.”

The Trump administration upended hundreds of millions of dollars in federally funded research in February when the president ordered the National Institutes of Health and other agencies to slash the indirect cost rate to 15%. The University of Maryland, College Park, for example, has an indirect rate of 56%.

When researchers receive grants, most of the money goes to expenses related to their work, such as equipment, supplies and salaries. The government also negotiates to provide additional funding based on a percentage of the original grant. That extra funding can be used for indirect costs, such as building maintenance, library resources and administrative support.

While the Trump administration’s attempts to slash the rate down to 15% have so far been paused or blocked by courts, university leaders at Maryland believe there could be a way to compromise with the president‘s team.

Pines said he had met with leaders in the Trump administration, including the head of NIH, the director of the White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy, and the science advisor to the president. The university president said he was also in “constant communication” with the Maryland state legislature and Gov. Wes Moore’s office over funding cuts.

The college presidents noted that if federal funding for research continues to be slashed, they are looking to expand their revenue sources by exploring philanthropic options.

“Philanthropy going forward plays a significant role int he new emerging models of research,” Pines said. “This is the new blue ocean that we’re all going to be swimming in as federal dollars go down.”

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