NIH indirect cost reforms are proposed by coalition of universities

Facing billions of dollars in proposed cuts to research overhead payments from the Trump administration, a coalition of academic groups has devised plans it believes could be more sensible, measured ways to revamp how the federal government pays for scientific research.

STAT obtained a copy of the proposals, which were developed by the Joint Associations Group, or JAG, a collection of 10 organizations that represent universities, medical centers, and other research institutions. The document lays out two ways the government could pay institutions for facility and administrative expenses connected with research. One would be to award overhead payments that would vary depending on both the type of institution and the type of research funded in a particular grant. The other approach would involve a detailed accounting of administrative and facility costs as line items in each grant proposal.

Both strategies differ markedly from the current system, in which institutions receive overhead payments based on rates they negotiate with the federal government. These models also diverge from the Trump administration’s attempt to set a hard cap on overhead payments — a goal that alarmed much of the academic world and spurred a search for other solutions.