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GAO-21-232R 1 (2021-02-03)

handle is hein.gao/gaobaecjz0001 and id is 1 raw text is: 1Oo_ U.S. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE G A O A Century of Non-Partisan Fact-Based Work 441 G St. N.W. Washington, DC 20548 February 3, 2021 Chairman Ranking Member Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions United States Senate The Honorable Frank Pallone, Jr. Chairman The Honorable Cathy McMorris Rodgers Ranking Member Committee on Energy and Commerce House of Representatives Federal Research Grants: OMB Should Take Steps to Establish the Research Policy Board Federally funded research projects play a key role in advancing science and innovation in the United States. In fiscal year 2020, the Trump Administration requested $139 billion for research and development funding.1 In accordance with laws, regulations, and policy guidance, agencies must implement a variety of administrative requirements that allow for oversight of federal research funding. Some requirements were established or strengthened in response to cases of researchers improperly spending funds or out of concerns about the integrity of the research being conducted. Others were established to meet broader policy objectives, such as increasing access to research data and results.2 Organizations that have studied administrative requirements have raised concerns about the workload and costs for researchers and universities to comply with these requirements and their effect on researchers' ability to efficiently conduct research.3 For example, the National Science 1The data reflect fiscal year 2020 funding levels proposed by the President's Budget of the United States Government, Fiscal Year 2020 (released Mar. 11, 2019). National Science Foundation National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Federal R&D Funding, by Budget Function: Fiscal Years 2018-2020, NSF 20-305 (Alexandria, Va.: December 2019). 2University administrators and researchers must comply with certain requirements when developing and submitting grant applications and with others as part of the terms and conditions of any awards they receive. For example, agencies generally require that applicants provide biographical sketches describing their professional accomplishments when submitting grant proposals, and require that grantees document the personnel expenses (e.g., researcher salaries) and the purchases (e.g., equipment and supplies) charged to a grant. 3We have previously reported on agencies' reimbursement of administrative and other indirect costs associated with university research. See GAO, University Research: Policies for the Reimbursement of Indirect Costs Need to Be Updated, GAO-10-937 (Washington, D.C.: Sept. 8, 2010). We reported that federal agencies reimburse universities for their administrative costs up to a cap established in Office of Management and Budget guidance, and universities pay the remainder. In 1991, OMB established a cap of 26 percent of modified total direct costs-all direct salaries and wages, applicable fringe benefits, materials and supplies, services, travel, and subawards and subcontracts up to the first $25,000 of each subaward or subcontract. The cap on administrative costs is still in place and can be found in Appendix III to 2 C.F.R. part 200. GAO-21-232R Federal Research Grants Page 1

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