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It really makes no sense for overhead to be calculated at the university level, but it sounds like that's how it is done? Sophisticated research into particle
by bpt3 10mo ago
It really makes no sense for overhead to be calculated at the university level, but it sounds like that's how it is done?
Sophisticated research into particle physics, material science, and (for the last several years) AI does come with significant overhead costs for opex. Sophisticated research into most of computer science, mathematics, and other theoretical scientific disciplines does not, let alone humanities research.
I think a large portion of the difference in overhead rates is due to the last item you are confident of in your list (i.e. Duke can tell NIH "if you want our world class researchers to work on this problem, here are our rates", and some random school cannot).
- estearum 10mo agoYeah I suspect the university level determination is just that negotiating it study by study would be too burdensome?
- bpt3 10mo agoI would think that calculating rates for a department would be more reasonable, or maybe have a few models to choose from could also make sense. What doesn't make sense to me is to apply the same overhead burden to a theoretical CS or math research effort where someone basically just needs commodity IT resources and an office and one that requires significant time using a particle accelerator.
- conception 10mo agoSo you want more bureaucracy to determine rates and more personnel to negotiate and bookkeep for it? Because that’s how you get more bureaucracy. The negotiated rate takes into account that not all research is the same. That’s why it’s negotiated based on the science they are doing. It’s a blended rate.