What does the phrase limited liability mean in a corporate context?

In 2017, "a public university was awarded a federal reimbursement grant" of $18 million to carry out research. of this, $12 million was intended to cover direct costs and $6 million to cover overhead. in a particular year, the university incurred $4 million in allowable direct costs and received $3.4 million from the federal government. it expected to incur the remaining costs and collect the remaining balance in 2018. for 2017 it should recognize revenues from the grant of