Helpful Proposal Links

A MEMO FROM KUMAR PATEL, VICE CHANCELLOR - RESEARCH

  Proposal
      Kit

  Goldenrod 

  Policies
      and
      Procedures

  UC C&G
       Manual Chap.
       8 - Indirect
       Cost

  Conflict of
      Interest

 OPRS

To: Deans and Librarian Werner

Subject: Requests for Indirect Cost Waivers

During the past few months, there has been a significant increase in the number of individual indirect cost waiver requests prepared by investigators across campus. In each of these instances, faculty are asking that indirect costs normally paid by sponsor agencies be reduced from that permitted by sponsor policy or waived in their entirety. In each case, approval of the request results in losses both to the University as a whole and the campus.

In many instances requests are being submitted because investigators have submitted proposals directly to funding agencies without applicable indirect costs, or because they view forgone indirect costs as a form of cost sharing that might strengthen their application. Occasionally there are situations in which it appears that investigators view indirect costs as expenses that are restricting the scope of the work they could accomplish if they were able to use all available dollars to fund direct costs. In most of these cases, a waiver may be expedient, but is not an appropriate way to prudently manage the University's finances. Within the University of California, the recycled recovered indirect costs are a pool that covers the full research costs of the University.

I am writing to enlist your help in reversing this trend and in educating the faculty about the importance of indirect costs as a source of funding to reinvest in research and faculty support. First, I ask that you remind all investigators and research administrators within your respective areas that all costs - both direct and applicable indirect costs - need to be included in all proposals. At the same time, please let them know that after-the fact requests to waive indirect costs in instances where they would presumably have been provided if requested, will generally not be approved. In other instances, when faculty seek your concurrence on individual waiver requests I ask that you critically examine the situation in light of its potential impact on your own academic unit.

Requests for approval of individual exceptions should be sought only in instances when acceptance of an award is considered vital to the campus, and the prospect of the potential loss of the award deemed more important than recovery of full indirect costs. I will continue to endorse and forward these vital interest waiver requests to the Office of the President but need your help in ensuring that each request is carefully considered and that you support and encourage faculty to submit only those in which there are no identifiable alternatives short of loss of the potential funding.

Sponsored Research staff are available to provide guidance about budget preparation, and indirect cost application. If you have any questions about indirect costs or indirect cost exceptions, Ann Pollack, Director, Public Sector Programs, Sponsored Research, would be happy to talk with you. You can reach her at x 58601 or by e-mail at apollack@srnet.ucla.edu.

Sincerely,

Kumar Patel
Vice Chancellor - Research

Any questions, comments, or input can be sent to the Sponsored Research Web Team.

  RESEARCH@UCLA