Procedure:  Distribution of Funds to Support the Indirect Costs of Sponsored Research   

Contact Officer: Executive Director, University Research Services

Purpose

To provide the research community with instruction on the distribution of funds that support the Indirect Costs of Sponsored Research within the University.

Procedure

Distribution of Funds to Support the Indirect Costs of Sponsored Research

Who  How
Faculty member, department and/or faculty/school administrations representatives

Step 1:  Please read the following information

Typically, all recovered Indirect Costs of research1 will be distributed to the Faculty/School of the primary investigator of the research agreement, or shared among faculties and schools for inter-faculty/school agreements.

Each Faculty will be responsible for determining how Indirect Costs will be distributed within the Faculty/School and for communicating this distribution policy to all faculty members.

University Research Services (URS) and/or the Research Contracts Unit (within Industry Partnerships) may facilitate communications between faculty members, department heads, and/or deans/associate deans research where appropriate.

Federal Indirect Cost Program (FICP):  Each Faculty/School will be responsible for accounting of all monies received through the FICP grant and report back to University Research Services.  FICP funds can only be used for Indirect Costs of research (http://www.rsf-fsr.gc.ca/administer-administrer/expenditures-depenses-eng.aspx). FICP grant funds may be transferred to Departments, who would then be responsible for reporting on all FICP expenditures to the Faculty Business Officer on an annual basis.

For Affiliated Hospitals, there are Memoranda of Understanding with the University outlining the percentage FICP distribution between the parties.

For Affiliated Hospital-based Research Agreements with or without conditions (i.e., contracts or grants, respectively), the distribution of the recovered Indirect Costs of research revenue (with the exception of FICP) will be negotiated between the dean(s) of the faculty(ies)/school(s) and the Affiliated Hospital(s) as described in the steps below.

URS or Research Contracts Unit, Faculty Member, Faculty Dean (or designate)

Step 2:  Determine distribution method

Distribution of Indirect Costs is determined according to one of the methods listed below.

The methods below do not explicitly consider research projects where all, or a portion, of the research is conducted under purview of a University-based centre or institute.  Should this be the case, there may be consideration and negotiation of Indirect Costs flowing to the centre or institute.

  1. For research projects with one PI and no co-PIs, all indirect costs will flow to the Faculty/School of the PI.  
  2. For research projects where the PI and co-PI(s) are from the same Faculty/School, all Indirect Costs will flow to the Faculty/School.  Refer to the Faculty/School internal policy for Indirect Costs distribution.
  3. For research projects where the PI and co-PIs are from different Faculties/Schools:
    • All Indirect Costs will flow to the Faculty/School of the lead PI and none will flow to co-PI(s)
      OR
    • Indirect Costs will be divided between the Faculties/Schools of the PI and co-PI(s)
      • An agreement between the PI and co-PI(s), Faculty/School associate/vice-deans research, and department heads outlining the division of Indirect Costs will be negotiated and attached to the TRAQ Awards module.
  4. For research projects where all, or a portion, of the research is conducted at an affiliated hospital there may be negotiation of the division of Indirect Costs depending on the use of affiliated hospital resources. Generally, the following will apply:
    • For non-Tri-council sponsored research projects where the lead PI performs research in hospital space
      1. 67% of Indirect Costs will be attributed to Faculty/School of the lead PI and 33% of Indirect Costs will be attributed to the Hospital.
      2. PI completes the hospital approval questions in the TRAQ DSS.
    • Indirect Costs may be divided between the hospital(s) and the Faculty/School of the PI and co-PI(s) according to the internal policy of each Faculty/School (typically for large-budget projects)2:
      1. i. An agreement between the PI and co-PI(s), the affiliated hospital, Faculty/School associate/vice-deans research, and department heads outlining the division of Indirect Costs will be negotiated and the corresponding Research Accounting form (outlining the distribution between PI, department, and faculty/school) completed and attached to the TRAQ Awards module.
      2. ii. PI completes the hospital approval questions in the TRAQ DSS.
URS or Research Contracts Unit, Faculty Member, Faculty Dean (or designate)

Step 3:  Notice of award or execution of Research Agreement

Notice of Award received from external sponsor or Research Agreement with conditions executed.

URS or Research Contracts Unit, Faculty Member

Step 4:  Certification(s) verification

URS or Research Contracts Unit checks that all certifications have been obtained (if applicable).  If all certifications are in place, URS or Research Contracts Unit sends a research project set-up request to Research Accounting (Finance). 

Research Accounting (Finance)

Step 5:  Accrual of Indirect Costs

Indirect Costs are accrued as Direct Costs are incurred and are distributed to the Faculties/Schools on a monthly basis if applicable. 

Date Approved: 2014 May

Approval Authority:  PACB, VPOC

Date of Commencement:  2014 May

Amendment Dates: 

Date for Next Review:  2019 May

Related Policies, Procedures and Guidelines: Indirect Costs of Sponsored Research Policy, Procedure on the Recovery of Funds to Support the Indirect Costs of Sponsored Research, Policy on the Administration of Research Funds, Queen's University Contract Signing Authority Policy, Canada Foundation for Innovation Operations and Maintenance Policy (PDF, 756 KB)

1Indirect Costs (also commonly referred to as Overheads) include expenditures that are necessary to support research and (i) may not be directly attributable to any one research project but rather provide general support for the University research environment as a whole (e.g., libraries and computer networks); (ii) may or may not be measurable and attributed to specific research activities, for example occupancy costs (such as heat, light, energy, and waste management), research and financial administrative support, insurance, and human resource management; and (iii) may not be eligible for funding through Sponsored Research.  This includes Federal Indirect Cost Program (FICP) grant funds, and all other indirect costs/overhead funded through sponsored research.

2For Tri-Council-funded projects (where the Indirect Costs comprise FICR funds), first consideration will be given to the distribution of FICR as outlined in the MOU between the University and Affiliated Hospitals.