Lights On, Labs Running

The Critical Role of Indirect Costs in Discovering Cures, Training Scientists and More

Hi friends!

I’ve gotten a lot of requests to do a post that more clearly talks about indirect costs. So this post is for you! As a note, I have anonymized and merged details from conversations I have had with fellow scientists, those in finance and more to get a better understanding of the situation.

I am increasingly convinced that storytelling is needed in science communication which is why you will see me explain it the way I do below. I always appreciate feedback though, so let me know what you think!

First though - tomorrow (2/26/25) I am doing an Instagram live with Senator Parry Murray about NIH at 12:10PM ET. You can watch from either of our instagram channels (@sciencewhizliz or @senatorpattymurray). Scheduling with a senator is TOUGH, so it could be bumped some if the schedule on the senate floor changes. Regardless we will share the recording after.

For those who are not aware - Senator Murray is the vice-chair of the senate appropriations committee. This means she is heavily involved in the budget process which includes funding for federal institutions like NIH. Her office reached out to me and I happily agreed. For the record, I would also have a conversation with a republican senator about this issue if they asked me to! The issue is what matters. For why - keep reading below!

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Dr. Claire Carter is a molecular biologist. She has just started her career and was awarded her first grant - a $2 million NIH grant split over 5 years ($400,000 a year). Her project involves studying childhood brain cancer using an animal model. This work could lead to new insights that help develop better treatments and cures.

Claire is thrilled, being awarded her first grant is critical for establishing her career in science. Plus, this funding will cover part of her salary, salaries for her research team and the supplies needed to do this important research. It also includes funds to allow for travel to conferences and to cover publication fees.

The grant arrives and soon she realizes that her ability to do research depends on way more than what she listed in her budget.

Her work also depends on (aka indirect costs):

• A fully operational lab that includes the space itself, the cleaning staff, electricity, running water, heat and building maintenance.

• Shared research facilities such as microscopes and DNA sequencing machines. These require maintenance and staff to run them.

• Administrative support to ensure that her lab is complying with the requirements outlined in the grant and that her staff are hired and paid.

• IT infrastructure to ensure the data is being properly stored, backed up and is in compliance with NIH policy.

• Safety personnel to ensure that the research is happening in a way that minimizes harm to people, the animals used and the environment.

  

  Cartoon by Matteo Farinella. Link to source here.

These resources are used by multiple scientists working on different projects. So they can’t be charged to just one person’s grant. It would be challenging to figure out how much electricity and water just the Carter lab used so they could add it to the budget. Instead, each NIH grant includes a separate category known as indirect costs, or facilities and administrative (F&A) fees.

Each institution negotiates an individual indirect cost rate with the federal government based on their unique needs. The process is tedious and long, and institutions are audited to ensure they’re complying.

Dr. Carter finds out that her institution negotiated an indirect rate of 50%. This means that for a $2 million dollar grant, her institution will get an additional $1 million over the five years to cover all of those other research costs - maintenance, electricity, support staff, etcetera.

Dr. Carter is grateful when she realizes these added costs were already accounted for and begins the project.

Then, a year into her grant she hears the news that NIH now wants to implement a blanket 15% indirect rate for all institutions. She is devastated, as she now understands these cuts will directly impact her ability to do this research. She now cannot take the graduate student she planned on training because the graduate program is now pausing new acceptances. She is worried.

The impact of indirect cuts

If indirect costs are reduced, then some places may be able to cushion the blow a bit through things like tuition revenue or state funding (if they’re a state university). But, that will only go so far and will still hurt the ability to do life saving research.

The impact is even greater for independent research institutions because they do not have state funds or tuition to fall back on. Most of these institutions operate on razor thin margins because they do not have other ways of generating revenue to cover costs.

No matter what type of institution you’re discussing. The impact of indirect cuts will look something like this:

• Loss of staff who help clean, maintain equipment and ensure safety procedures are followed.

• Delayed or halted research that could have led to new answers in kidney disease, cancer, heart disease and more.

• Increased burden on researchers. Instead of designing and running experiments scientists will need to help clean the lab, fix broken equipment, and manage reporting. This will divert time away from scientific discovery.

• Reduced ability to train students to become scientists. We are already seeing graduate schools cut or reduce acceptances into programs for next year.

• Harm to the economy. Cutting indirect funds will lead to loss of jobs and reduced economic output. More on benefits of NIH to the economy here.

All of this to say - indirect costs are not frivolous - they are critical to the research.

Do we want scientists trying to solve cancer and other issues, or do we want them trying to fix a broken microscope? I can tell you that I couldn’t fix a broken microscope even if I tried and I am not the only scientist who says this. So it would waste a LOT of time.

If you want more resources to understand this here is a great video on indirect costs as well.

What can you do?

Currently, implementation of this indirect cut was paused and is working its way through the courts. We still need to take action though!

• Tell you friends about why scientific research matters.

• Call you representatives (scripts and more here).

Let me know what other questions you have so I can tackle them in future posts!

Best,

Liz