The University Office of Projects & Grants

General Description  In awarding research grants, some sponsors, including a few agencies of the federal government, do not allow the total costs of a Sponsored Project to be reimbursed under the grant.  Mandatory cost sharing is cost sharing which is required by the sponsor as a condition of obtaining an award.  Mandatory cost sharing also includes cost sharing on an NIH grant when the salary of a faculty member exceeds the salary cap which NIH has placed on the compensation chargeable in whole or in part to such grants.

The funding source of Mandatory Cost Sharing and Voluntary Committed Cost Sharing must be identified and approved by the person with authority over those funds at the time the commitment is made to the sponsor. Further, those cost must be readily identifiable in the University's financial records to auditors and others in order to document that those cost sharing commitments have been met and are properly accounted for.  Funds used to meet matching requirements may be used/counted only once.

Cost sharing can be accomplished through the following methods:

In-Kind Contributions
Third party in-kind contributions means the value of non-cash contributions provided by non-Federal third parties. They may be in the form of real property, equipment and supplies and the value of goods and services directly benefiting and, specifically, identifiable to the project or program.

Faculty Salaries and Benefits
A percentage of the professorial salary paid by the institution during the project period (for LDEO this means the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences) along with the fringe benefits and corresponding indirect costs is allowable cost sharing.

Institutional Funds
For special projects that require institutional funds, the Director's Office should be consulted as soon as the budget is prepared. The Principal Investigator is responsible for obtaining a letter of commitment to include in the proposal.

Columbia University Equipment Matching Funds

By letter dated October 14, 1994 the Provost's Office announced the establishment of a capital equipment matching fund for:

• Equipment only competitions proposed by NSF, NIH, DOE, DOD and other governmental agencies or nongovernmental entities; and
• Major equipment items on federal and non-federal renovation grants where the equipment portion can be segmented from the renovation costs.

These special competitions usually require a 50% match. The University is willing to entertain requests for 25% of the total cost of the equipment.

To Apply for CU Matching Funds:

• A copy of the draft proposal and the source of the other 25% matching is submitted to the University Office of Research Administration (RA) by the Contracts and Grants Office along with appropriate endorsement from the Director's Office.

Final Approval

• The Provost's Office will review the request. Preference will be given to meeting high-priority equipment needs that will benefit the efforts of more than one research group.
• RA will advise the Principal Investigator, the Director and the Contracts Manager of the decision.
• If approved, a separate 6 ledger account number will be established to coincide with any resulting award period.

Cost Sharing Allowability  Regardless of the method of cost sharing, the contribution can only be reported once. All costs are subject to the same rules and regulations as the project, and must be incurred during the performance period of the project.