Under-recovery of F&A Costs

In addition to the direct costs of research, each project also incurs facilities & administrative (F&A) costs, such as utilities, space, and central administration labor. Read more about how these costs are calculated. Under-recovery of F&A costs occurs when a sponsor does not fully reimburse MIT for its full F&A rate. In these cases, other funding sources must be used to cover F&A costs. MIT does not waive or reduce the F&A costs of any sponsored research project.

Under-recovery may result when:

  • The sponsor will not pay the Institute's full F&A rate.
  • The sponsor uses a different indirect cost base, such as Total Direct Cost (TDC).
  • The sponsor uses a different rate than the current Institute rates, such as a fixed-for-the-life award.