Ensure that cost sharing is allowable and approved by your DLCI (and any other funding sources) before submitting a proposal. Document all sources of cost share:
- To the extent required by the sponsor in your proposal
- As an Institutional Commitment within the KC Proposal Budget
Cost Sharing Approvals
Limit cost sharing to MIT’s preferred sources (or discuss with your RAS CA before submitting).
To secure approvals:
- Confirm all sources of funds used for cost sharing, including F&A funds. The lead DLCI is responsible for obtaining all approvals from outside DLCIs before routing the proposal.
- Complete the KC Proposal Budget, entering the cost sharing in the Institutional Commitment section.
Documenting Cost Sharing in the Proposal
If cost sharing is specified in the notice of funding opportunity, it must be detailed in the approved budget.
In your proposal:
- Include a cost sharing budget in same level of detail as sponsor-requested budget
- Include letters of commitment and cost share budget (detailed to same level as an MIT budget request) from subrecipients
- Include letters of commitment detailing the cost from third parties donating in-kind services, supplies, or equipment to MIT and/or subrecipients
Avoiding Unintended Cost Sharing
Any commitment statements in a proposal, whether described as cost sharing or not, are ultimately the full responsibility of the submitting unit.
To avoid unintended cost sharing, review statements in the proposal (particularly in the budget or justification) that may imply cost sharing against the criteria in the funding notice. For example, RAs or postdocs mentioned in the statement of work but not in the budget may imply cost sharing.
Faculty are encouraged to use the following statement in the proposal or budget justification:
MIT fully supports the academic year salary of professors, associate professors and assistant professors, but makes no specific commitment of academic year time or salary to this particular research project.
Updated December 18, 2025