Faculty Facilitator

Topic

Finance

Relating to funding or buying and paying

How trainees are paid

Trainees are paid either a “stipend" or a “salary" or a mix of both. While the amount paid is the same regardless of this distinction, things like pay schedule, tax withholdings, and visa eligibility can vary between the two. Why 2 types of funding? Fellowships pay stipends while

Types of Research Funding

Academic research is funded through a variety of sources each of which have distinct pros and cons. It's important to understand these, as the funding type determines what it can be spent on and when, and what risks are associated with using it. Many basic biomedical researchers assume

What is a PTA?

The majority of US universities use PTAs to track expenses charged to different accounts. A PTA is a bit like a bank account number in that it identifies a specific source of funding. However it’s more complicated in that it identifies the funding goal at 3 different levels, the

Sabbatical as a Fiscal Tool

A sabbatical can have many purposes, including a very pragmatic fiscal one. For each unit of time worked, a faculty member earns X many hours of sabbatical time, similar to the way staff accrue vacation time. Then, once a faculty member reaches a minimum amount of accrued time, the faculty

Calculating Indirects as Part of a Total Award Budget

Some funding announcements provide budget information as a maximum allowed total cost along with a rate to budget indirects. The most common error is to calculate the indirect costs off of the total costs. Here's how to do it correctly.

Cost Shares

A cost share is a financial mechanism for interested parties to demonstrate commitment to a project or a plan, and to increase available funds for that project or plan. Cost sharing can be “Voluntary” or “Mandatory”. Mandatory cost sharing is exactly what it sounds like. The cost sharing is required