How do I determine when an expenditure is cost sharing or infrastructure?
Direct cost items that are not funded by the sponsor are by definition cost sharing. Facilities & administrative (indirect) items are institutional support. (For more information on the differences between direct and F&A items see RSP 508-01: Charging Direct and Facilities & Administrative Costs to Sponsored Projects.) For example, a research study requires a new personal computer to process survey results. The researcher will use the computer on the research study and for e-mail in general. Because the computer is used non-project activities, it is by definition infrastructure support. However, if the proposal the specifies the university will purchase one Dell X-390 with a cost of $5,500 for tabulating survey results, it will be considered cost sharing. To avoid turning infrastructure support into cost sharing do not insert F&A costs into proposal budgets and budget justifications.
