TO: Resadmin-l
 Subject:  Grants with Small Companies

 Are the small companies all for-profit or are any non-profit?  In
 theory you might be able to argue the "negotiation" of indirect costs
 with a non-profit company whose missions and service to the community
 could make them look like a foundation on a good-day.  Even then,
 jeopardy lurkes as it most definitely does with for-profits,
 regardless of size, with respect to your relationship with the federal
 government.  For those of you who do "negotiate" with companies, how
 do you justify to the federal auditors that you charged industry
 (separate from clinical trials) a lower rate than you do the feds?
 Being currently in the position outlined, general comments would also
 be greatly appreciated on this topic.  (I do fully appreciate and
 sympathize with the faculty position, but the thought of the potential
 of jeopardizing the federal indirect cost rate restrains acting on
 that sympathy.)

 Diane Gilbert, CRA
 Director, Research and Training Development
 Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital
 Boston, MA 02114
       xxxxxx@a1.mgh.harvard.edu