The Universitys policy for the costing of research proposals is set out in the guidance booklet Making a bid for external research funding viz. Overheads Overheads cover additional University services that you may require. These include computing support, secretarial support, electricity, paper and so on. Overhead rates vary according to the funding body but you should seek to ensure that rates cover the cost of the additional burden that your project may place on existing services. A higher rate can be charged if appropriate.
Many registered charities make no provision for overheads and indirect costs.
In such cased the Finance Department, should be able to prepare a modified costing. The intention of this section is to ensure that the University does not lose money when its staff undertake research projects. Indirect costs Indirect costs are those central and departmental costs of the organisation that underpin its research activities, but which cannot be uniquely assigned to particular research projects. These include financial and personnel services, staff facilities, public relations, recruitment costs, staff development and training and departmental services. The European Framework V Additional Cost Model There are various models that can be used when applying for funding from the European Unions Framework V programme, but the most commonly used by Universities is the additional cost model.