▶️ This NIH video from 9 yrs ago provides a primer on this budgeting framework & terminology (direct vs. indirect), explains how indirect costs have been computed historically, & dispels many myths and misunderstandings related to university research budgets and indirect costs.

👉 Some helpful takeaways include:

• Most indirect costs are NOT for administrative staff/overhead

• Admin costs have been capped at 26% of the direct costs since 1991

• Universities cost share (pay for) project-related admin costs above this cap

• Most indirect costs support research facilities & infrastructure related to the federally-funded project

• It's not the NIH that determines or negotiates the indirect rates, it's done by a separate cognizant agency (via a process explained in video)

• All federal grant funds (both direct & indirect) support the funded research

🎯 I recommend watching this if you're confused by the heated discourse going on in the U.S. right now related to federal research funding, or if you're trying to wade through the sea of news articles that span from insightful and informative to ill-informed and misleading.

📍 Frankly, even if you think you understand what indirect costs are, it's probably worth setting aside any preconceptions and watching this informational video. You'll probably learn something. I certainly did.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XvVibv2opQ