Research administration glossary

Costs a sponsor will actually reimburse: those that are allowable, allocable to the project, reasonable, and treated consistently.

The portion of project costs the institution covers rather than the sponsor: sometimes required, often discouraged.

A flat indirect-cost rate, 10% of MTDC on NIH awards or up to 15% under the 2024 Uniform Guidance, that an organization without a negotiated rate may use.

Costs that can be identified specifically with a particular project: salaries, equipment, supplies, and project travel.

Tangible property with a useful life over one year and a per-unit cost at or above the equipment threshold ($5,000 for NIH awards, up to $10,000 under the 2024 Uniform Guidance): excluded from the F&A base.

The real costs of research that can't be tied to one project: buildings, utilities, administration: recovered at a negotiated rate.

The employment costs charged on top of salary: health insurance, retirement, payroll taxes: usually at a negotiated rate.

The direct-cost base F&A (indirect) rates are applied to: total direct costs minus equipment, tuition, participant support, and other excluded items.

The agreement that sets an institution's official F&A (and often fringe) rates with its cognizant federal agency.

Payments to non-employee participants in a project: stipends, travel, registration, that are excluded from the F&A base.

Costs incurred before the award start date, at the institution's own risk, in anticipation of funding.

A federal limit on the rate of salary that can be charged to certain grants, reset periodically by Congress.

Tangible property that isn't equipment: anything below the $10,000 equipment threshold, including most computing devices.

Graduate-student tuition paid by an award alongside a research assistantship: excluded from the F&A base.

Expenses federal funds can never cover: such as alcohol, lobbying, entertainment, fines, and bad debt.

The catalog entry and number identifying a federal assistance program, formerly the CFDA number.

The official authorized to submit proposals and legally commit the institution to a sponsor.

A standardized short CV for senior/key personnel, showing qualifications and contributions relevant to the project.

The narrative that explains and defends every line in a proposal budget.

An assistance award, like a grant, but with substantial, hands-on involvement by the funding agency.

A disclosure of all research support a person holds or has applied for: used to check overlap and research security.

The plan for how a project's data will be stored, shared, and preserved: now required by most federal sponsors.

The three main federal funding instruments, and the different rulebooks that come with each.

NIH's request for certain information only after an application scores well enough to be considered for funding.

A short advance notice that an applicant plans to submit, letting the sponsor plan its review. Usually non-binding.

An NIH budget format that requests direct costs in $25,000 modules instead of itemized line detail.

The public notice announcing a funding opportunity: its goals, eligibility, deadlines, and how to apply. Formerly the FOA.

The two halves of the grant lifecycle: everything before the award is made, and everything after.

A revised application submitted after an unfunded first attempt: NIH allows one, designated A1.

The family of standard federal application forms, including the SF-424 (R&R) used for research proposals.

The one-page statement of what an NIH project will accomplish: its objectives and hypotheses.

SAM.gov, the federal system where organizations register to be eligible for awards and payments.

The 12-character ID that identifies an organization in the federal award system, replaced the DUNS number in 2022.

Extra funding added to an existing award for work within its original scope, no new competition.

The final administrative process that formally ends a grant after its project period.

Ending an award, in whole or part, before its planned end date: by the sponsor, the recipient, or by agreement.

The funded portion of an award, usually a year: for which money is committed and may be obligated.

Unobligated funds moved from one budget period into the next.

A significant shift in a project's aims or direction, which requires the sponsor's prior approval.

Pulling awarded cash from the federal payment system to reimburse the institution for what it has spent.

Sponsor-delegated authority letting institutions approve routine post-award actions themselves.

The periodic accounting of what's been spent and obligated on an award, filed on form SF-425.

An extension of a grant's end date, with no additional funds, to finish the approved scope of work.

The legal document that establishes a grant, its terms and conditions, and its funded amount.

A commitment of award funds: a purchase order, subaward, or hire, that will require payment.

Changes to an award that require the sponsor's written OK before you act: scope changes, certain rebudgets, extensions.

Income a project earns during its performance period: fees, sales, royalties, that usually must be reinvested in the project.

The full span of an award from start to end date, across all its budget periods.

Moving funds between budget categories after an award is made: sometimes free, sometimes needing prior approval.

The standardized annual report on a grant's progress that most federal agencies require to release the next year's funds.

The individuals essential to a project: named on the award, with changes requiring sponsor approval.

A portion of an award passed through to another institution that performs a substantive part of the research.

Moving a cost from one account to another after it posted: allowed, but scrutinized and time-limited.

The required, periodic confirmation that the salary charged to a grant matches the effort actually devoted to it.

U.S. laws restricting the transfer of certain technologies, data, and items to foreign persons or countries.

A researcher's outside financial interest that could bias the research: disclosed, reviewed, and managed under sponsor rules.

The committee that reviews and approves research involving vertebrate animals.

The committee that reviews and approves research involving human subjects before it can proceed.

An agreement governing the transfer of research materials between organizations, who may use them and how.

The unit sponsors use to express effort: the share of a person's annual activity devoted to a project, in months.

The Uniform Guidance rules for how recipients buy goods and services with federal funds: competition and documentation.

The requirement to make publications and data from funded research freely available, NIH enforces it via PMCID.

The rule that award records must be kept for a set period: generally three years after the final report.

Fabrication, falsification, or plagiarism in proposing, performing, or reporting research: not honest error.

Protecting federally funded research from undue foreign influence through full disclosure and conflict-of-commitment rules.

Required training in the ethical conduct of research: for trainees on many NSF and NIH awards.

The annual organization-wide audit required of entities that spend $1,000,000 or more in federal awards a year.

Government actions that temporarily or long-term bar an organization or person from receiving federal awards.

The federal regulations governing how recipients administer and account for federal awards.