Frequently Asked Questions

"F & A costs" are facilities & administrative costs. It is also written as indirect cost, or IDC. Briefly, the F & A rate is the overhead costs that the institution incurs during the course of undertaking research. These costs include those for electricity, space, and upkeep, among others. F & A rates vary from institution to institution, and the institution normally negotiates the rate with the federal government. UT-Austin's F & A rate is currently 53‰, negotiated through DHHS.

MDTC is the modified direct total cost. Normally, one applies the indirect cost or F & A cost rate to the MDTC to calculate the indirect costs for a project. Typically, MDTC will exclude the cost of tuition remission and capital equipment (i.e., equipment >= $5,000). If there is a subcontract (or subaward), the instiutional IDC for the primary institution will only be applied to the first $25,000 of the total costs of the subaward. However, one should consult the proposal guidelines to make final calculations for the MDTC. Our office will typically perform these budget calculations for the researcher, or ensure correctness of budget calculations already performed.

The DUNS number is a unique nine-digit identification number used to identify organizations receiving federal money. UT-Austin's DUNS number is 170230239.

UT-Austin's congressional district is TX-021.

UT-Austin's NIH Human Subjects Assurance Number is FWA# 00002030.

UT-Austin's NIH Animal Welfare Assurance Number is 4107-01.

The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2008, Public Law 110-161, restricts the amount of direct salary of an individual under an NIH grant to Executive Level I of the Federal Executive Pay scale. Effective January 1, 2009, the Executive Level I salary level increased to $196,700. The 2009 OPM salary tables are at located on the NIH website.

All employees paid by UT-Austin have a fringe rate associated with their salary. The fringe rate is, in effect, the additional costs that the university pays for employee benefits, such as life and health insurance and retirement benefits and varies according to an employee?s status and selected benefits package. Although fringe rates may vary slightly according to department or college, a general guideline is as follows: 28% for faculty, post-doctoral fellows, staff, and graduate students; and 8.51% for part-time workers and undergraduates. OSP provides the following guidance on this matter: fringe benefits/indirect costs.

Often you will need to acquire letters of support if you have a consultant participating on your project, or if your proposal requires a substantial commitment from your department or other UT-Austin resource in your proposal. These letters serve as a signal to the granting agency that you have informed these personnel or departmental units of your project, and that, indeed, they will be formally contributing their effort to your work (i.e., it's in writing).

A budget justification typically describes, in a narrative format, the manner in which one's budget is calculated. This includes effort for the key personnel, their qualifications, what responsibilities they will have for the project, as well as any supplies, materials, equipment, consultant fees, and travel proposed in the grant. Typically, a budget justification (e.g., line-by-line expense breakdowns) that is more transparent and detailed reflects a stronger proposal's budget.

Yes, UT-Austin policy requires that if you have graduate research assistants in your grant's budget, then you must provide for their tuition remission. Please contact the LBJ School Human Resources staff or the Grants office to correctly calculate tuition remission costs.

Because not all research is conducted on campus, the IDC rates associated with the project may vary depending on where the majority of the work is undertaken, i.e., on- or off-campus. Please note that rates on an individual project may no longer be split between on- and off-campus rates. If more than 50% of a project is performed off-campus, the off-campus rate will apply to the entire project. Otherwise, the on-campus rate applies. For additional guidance on this matter, please refer to OSP policy: http://www.utexas.edu/research/osp/july2010_f_and_a_memo.html

Any proposal or project that requires institutional sign-off will need to be processed through our office, which is true of the overwhelming majority of all submissions. Our office will also happily work with you to craft your budget and guide you through the grant-submission process.

The United States is committed to encourage technology exchanges that are consistent with U.S. national security and nuclear nonproliferation objectives. Although most of the research and technology development The University of Texas at Austin conducts is exempt from U.S. export control regulations, we must still comply with the regulations.

An export can occur though a variety of means, including:

• shipping,
• oral communications,
• written documentation (including e-mails), and
• visual inspections of any technology, software or technical data to any non-U.S. citizen, whether here in the U.S. or abroad.

  To make sure that your international research, travel or shipping is not an export liability for the school and the university, please contact Kay Ellis, Associate Director, University Export Controls Officer, in The Office of Sponsored Projects. Her phone number is 512-475-7963, and e-mail address is kay.ellis@austin.utexas.edu.

  The Export Control Officer can address any questions regarding export control issues related to your projects or travel outside the U.S. Additional details available at http://www.utexas.edu/research/osp/export_control/export_control_concerns.html.

Programmatic approval is required if you are entering into a business contract with a foreign company, organization, or individual. Programmatic approval must be provided by your dean's office and from the Office of the Vice President for Legal Affairs. Programmatic approval signifies that the services and/or deliverables to be provided have been reviewed, and approval is provided for the university to proceed with formalizing the arrangements with an agreement. Additional guidance and details available at: http://www.utexas.edu/business/vp/contracts_agreements/contract_foreign....

The Confidential Information Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act of 2002 (CIPSEA) provides federal protection for information that can be used to distinguish or track an individual’s identity such as name, Social Security Number, or biometric information as well as information that could be used in conjunction with other data elements to reasonably infer the identity of a respondent such as a combination of gender, race, date of birth, geographic indicators, or other descriptors. Special procedures are required for use of laptop computers, PDAs, zip drives, floppy disks, CD-ROMs or any other IT devices.

As a result, data use agreements have become more stringent and usually require written plans documenting the procedures that will be utilized to protect covered information. The Office of Sponsored Projects (OSP) has developed a template Sensitive Data Protection Plan (SDCP) form to assist recipients of these data to articulate the procedures that will be followed. Please refer to HYPERLINK [http://www.utexas.edu/research/osp/data_plan.html] for additional guidance. SDCP templates for non-funded and funder research projects are available at: http://www.utexas.edu/research/osp/forms/sdcp_template.doc