This question appears regularly.  And I seem to remember Chuck Chermside
reminding everyone that recovered F&A is really just university funds that
can be used in anyway the university chooses.  So, regardless of the
formulas used, isn't the concept of handing indirect cost dollars over to
PIs problematic?   Admittedly, I am only slightly more knowledgeable about
matters of finance than my 8 year old who thinks that the dollar molecules
he deposits in the bank will be the same molecules he withdraws, but are
we sending the wrong message to PIs and the public when we talk about
using indirects as incentive money?

Charlie

> The University at Albany SUNY has proposed to return some of the F&A
> recovery back to PI's as a way to incentivize them to apply for Federal
> awards. One proposed strategy that is being explored is having a sliding
> scale based on the F&A amount requested by the PI. For example, those PI's
> who apply to Federal agencies using our Federal negotiated rate would
> receive a higher return than PI's who apply to foundations or other
> agencies that only return a fraction of the Federal F&A rate. We would be
> interested in identifying any institution that has used such a scheme and
> to learn whether it has been successful in increasing the number of
> Federal applications.
>
>
> Robert Webster, Ph.D.
> Associate VP for Research
> The Research Foundation of State University of New York
> University at Albany
> 1400 Washington Avenue, MSC 312
> Albany, New York 12222
> Phone: 518-437-4550
> Fax: 518-437-4560
> email: xxxxxx@uamail.albany.edu
>
>
>
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