Facilities and administrative costs (F&A), sometimes referred to as indirect costs or overhead, represent the overall cost of operating the U's research infrastructure. F&A costs are real. The U is dependent upon the recovery of F&A in order to maintain the infrastructure necessary to support sponsored activities.
Sponsored projects are generally charged F&A costs, though university policy is accept published rate limits from private foundations and non-profit entities, as long as the published rate is universally applied to all similar agreements regardless of which institution or site is the recipient of the funds.
Foundation-specific universal F&A rates for common U partners are detailed below.
| Sponsor | F & A Policy | Updated |
|---|---|---|
| Google Research | 0% in all Faculty Research Awards | 7/29/19 |
| Susan B. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation | 25% of total direct costs (including any indirect costs paid through subcontracts) | 7/29/19 |
| American Association for Cancer Research | Varies, but generally 20% for Research Grants | 7/29/19 |
| American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) | ACLS Fellowships do not allow for indirect costs. | 7/29/19 |
| Annie E Casey Foundation | Cannot exceed 10% of direct costs. | 7/29/19 |
| American Heart Association | Fellowship awards are 0% and all other awards are 10%. | 7/29/19 |
| Burroughs Welcomme Fund | 0% | 7/29/19 |
| Carnegie Corporation of New York | Up to 15% of direct project costs. | 7/29/19 |
| Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation | 0% | 7/29/19 |
| Doris Duke Charitable Foundation | The medical research program generally caps F&A at 10% of the total direct costs, including equipment. | 7/29/19 |
| Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation | 0% | 7/29/19 |
| William and Flora Hewlett Foundation | The Foundation does not use a fixed formula to calculate indirect costs and aspires to support all accurate grantee costs. | 6/1/18 |
| Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation | 0% - does not supply funds for overhead costs of institutions, travel to professional meetings, self-education, elaborate fixed equipment, or dissemination of research findings. | 7/29/19 |
| Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation | Indirect costs are limited to 10% of direct costs (direct costs do not include equipment costs, fee-for-services, consultants, or subcontract costs). | 7/29/19 |
| James S. McDonnell Foundation | 0% | 7/29/19 |
| Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation | 0% | 7/29/19 |
| Leukemia and Lymphoma Society | Varies between 5% and 11.1% of total direct costs. | 7/29/19 |
| March of Dimes | 10% of total direct costs | 7/29/19 |
| Andrew W. Mellon Foundation | 0% | 7/2/19 |
| National Multiple Sclerosis Society | Up to 10% of total direct costs (excluding patient and equipment costs). | 5/31/19 |
| Nestle Foundation | 0% | 7/29/19 |
| Pew Charitable Trusts | 8% for Biomedical Scholars and Scholars for Cancer Research. | 7/29/19 |
| Public Welfare Foundation | Up to 15% of the total project budget. | 7/29/19 |
| Russell Sage Foundation | RSF allows up to a maximum of 15% overhead for indirect costs on Research Grants above $50,000. | 7/29/19 |
| Robert Wood Johnson Foundation | The approved rate is 12% of all RWJF costs (personnel, other direct costs, and purchased services) associated with the project. However, if the purchased services category equals more than 33% of the total of personnel, other direct costs and purchased services, RWJF allows 12% indirect on personnel and other direct costs, and 4% on purchased services. | 7/29/19 |
| Alfred P. Sloan Foundation | For grant requests of $50,000 or less, no overhead costs are permitted. For grant requests larger than $50,000, overhead costs may not exceed 15% of direct project costs. If there is a “pass-through” or subcontract, there must not be double overhead. A recommended division of overhead where a subcontract is involved is 3% for the contracting institution and 12% for the institution that makes the final expenditure. | 4/10/19 |
| Spencer Foundation | Spencer does not allow indirect costs on grant awards of $75,000 or less. Research grant proposals with budgets of more than $75,000 may include indirect costs of 15% of the total direct costs. | 7/29/19 |
| Smith Richardson Foundation | Total charges for overhead and institutional categories may not exceed 10 percent of the project’s costs. | 7/29/19 |
| Social Science Research Council | Varies between 0% and 15% based on the funding opportunity. | 7/29/19 |
| John Templeton Foundation | Allows up to 15%, though welcomes proposals that include a lower rate. | 7/29/19 |
| Whitehall Foundation | 25% of equipment and research supplies | 7/29/19 |
| W.K. Kellogg Foundation | Cannot exceed 15% of total grant budget | 7/12/19 |
| William T. Grant Foundation | Cannot exceed 15% of total budget. | 7/29/19 |
| W.M. Keck Foundation | 0% | 7/12/19 |
| David and Lucille Packard Foundation | 10% on Investigator Awards. | 7/29/19 |