The SRA Symposium - College of Medicine

Relevance to Research Administrators
Behind every successful academic and Institution lies a great research administrator. One definition
of a great research administrator is an individual who has the ability to support the research
academic when seeking research funding anywhere in the world. Is that you?
Introduction
As funding for research continues to be a major issue internationally, organisations are seeking
new and more inventive ways of securing the necessary resources. This is creating an environment
whereby more and more Universities and Non-profits are looking further afield, to funders that
they have not considered previously.
In the past, funding streams from the European Commission (EC) were exclusively for Europe, but
under the Framework Programmes 6, and to a greater extent in 7, US collaboration is being actively
encouraged. Likewise for UK Universities and Non-profits, as our accounting systems change, more
and more collaborative funding opportunities are opening up to us in the United States. So, before
launching ourselves into these new funding pots, what do we need to be aware of?
In the UK we have extensive experience in the EC funding environment, but limited experience
with Federal funding. So in May of this year, the University of Glasgow conducted a study tour of
three US research active organisations in San Diego (the La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology,
the Burnham Institute and the San Diego State University Foundation), to learn more by
comparing the differences between Federal and European funding, both pre and post award.
This paper is a summary of that review, from the perspective of the European funding system,
which we hope will be of value to our SRA colleagues.
Background
As part of a new UK Government initiative, UK Universities must adopt an amended Activity
Based Costing (ABC) methodology called Transparent Approach to Costing (TRAC) to determine
the Full Economic Cost (FEC) of their activities. In so doing, this aligns our accounting systems,
processes and practices more closely with that of our US colleagues. It is worth bearing in mind
that whilst the European Union (EU) has brought about some commonality within its Member
States, the accounting standards, policies and processes are not uniform. Each member country
has its own legislation (similar to State law compared with Federal law), Generally Accepted Accounting
Principles (GAAP) and Accounting Standards.
In order to seek European Commission (EC) funding, US Universities and Non-profits will need
to collaborate with European organisations, as they cannot bid for this funding directly. Collaboration
of this nature also requires adherence to the legal framework of the EC (Belgian or Luxembourg
law) and an understanding of the different pre and post-award milestones when operating
as a project partner in a European collaborative research project.
Project Costing Methodology
Papers
Universities and Non-profits have three options under European funding rules when costing their
participation in a European collaborative research project (such as an Integrated Project or a Specific
Targeted Project). These costing options are Additional Cost with indirect flat rate costs (the
AC model), Full Cost with indirect flat rate costs (the FCF model), and Full Cost (the FC model).
Only Universities and Non-profits, which do not have an accounting system that allows the share of
their direct and indirect costs relating to the project to be distinguished, may opt for the AC model.
2005 Symposium Proceedings Book 173