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VICS/RICS Procedure

From time to time, a sponsor may offer to support a project without a published policy or indirect cost reimbursement rate. In these cases, a sponsor may offer an arbitrary indirect cost reimbursement rate. Importantly, this undervalues the cost of the project being presented by OHIO and reduces the amount of funding available for infrastructure reinvestment and distribution under the Research Incentive Model.    

While it is often important that OHIO participate in these types of projects, it is critical that the impact of the unrecovered indirect costs on the central administrative infrastructure be mitigated.  In response the Office of the Vice President for Research and Creative Activity has developed a voluntary indirect cost/research incentive cost share (VIC/RICS) process.  

The VIC/RICS process is available when the PI has requested that the federally-negotiated indirect cost rate be used, the sponsor has refused the request, and the PI, Department, and School/College have decided that the project is strategically aligned with the PIs research, scholarship, or creative activity portfolio and/or the mission of the department and school/college.  VIC/RICS offers the opportunity for the PI, Department, and School/College to voluntarily cost share the indirect costs and research incentive distribution.  The Vice President for Research, however, will not participate in the cost share of the unrecovered indirect costs and research incentive distribution and will retain funding in an amount equal to 18% of what would have been reimbursed and distributed via the Research Incentive Model under the appropriate federally negotiated rate for the project.  The VIC/RICS that is assumed by the PI, Department, and School/College is equal to the difference between the amount of indirect cost reimbursed under the appropriate federally negotiated rate and the amount of indirect cost reimbursed under the arbitrary rate.  

Importantly, if a sponsor mandates 0% indirect cost reimbursement and the PI, Department, and School/College still want to proceed with the submission of the proposal, a direct cost line item equal to the amount of 18% of the indirect costs recovered using the federally negotiated rate must be added to the budget as administrative research support and service infrastructure.  At a 0% indirect cost reimbursement rate the VIC/RICs would equal the entirety of the amount of the 82% Research Incentive Model distribution reimbursed at the appropriate federally negotiated rate.  

For voluntary IDC distribution calculations and a template of the letter acknowledging loss or reimbursed indirect costs for college, department, center, and PI/PD sign off, please contact your sponsored programs manager or research development. 

VPR鈥檚 recommendation is that this process is not utilized on sponsored programs activities as it creates extra administrative burden while lowering our cost-reimbursement.  The process should be used sparingly and only with consideration of the sponsor鈥檚 expectations.  This process is intended to be used as an exception in the cases of atypical sponsors, e.g., a local foundation, that typically does not fund research, and when the awarded amounts are typically low.