Explain Facilities & Administrative Costs. You Have Thirty Seconds: February 2025 Meeting

The document provides an in-depth exploration of Facilities & Administrative (F&A) Costs in university research, covering their historical development, purpose, and current challenges. It explains that F&A costs, often misunderstood as “overhead,” are vital reimbursements compensating institutions for necessary infrastructure and compliance expenses associated with federally funded research—expenses that are funded upfront by universities and later partially reimbursed by the government. The speakers emphasize the need for greater transparency, more effective communication strategies tailored to different stakeholders, and collaborative reforms to ensure fair, sustainable research funding and uphold US global competitiveness, especially given increasing administrative burdens and recent threats to adequate F&A reimbursement rates.