FACILITIES AND ADMINISTRATIVE COST INCENTIVE PROGRAM

F&A Cost Incentive Program and Incentive Program Eligibility

Updated 7/31/24

Qualifying Sponsored Programs

The facilities and administrative (F&A) cost incentive program was initially established to encourage PIs to obtain full F&A recovery on awards.  Fifteen percent of F&A charged on qualifying awards is credited to the Incentive PIIN Worktag(s).

For a sponsored project to qualify for incentive distribution, the award budget must use the applicable full and allowable F&A rate.  If the sponsor limits the F&A rate recovery to a certain percentage, this is considered full and allowable F&A recovery when there is a “published” rate that is publicly available (e.g. stated in the Proposal Guidelines or posted on a public website).  Published rates do not include emails or letters as support documentation.

In addition, if a multi-year proposal is submitted with full and allowable F&A, and the negotiated F&A rate increases during the life of the award, the award will continue to qualify for the incentive program even if the sponsor holds the F&A rate to its original level.

Incentive Program and Approved F&A Waivers

In all cases where a reduced F&A rate has been approved through the F&A Cost Reduction or Waiver (F&A Waiver) form, the sponsored program award will not be eligible for incentive distribution.

Who is Eligible to have a PI Incentive Account?

To be eligible for incentive, an individual must be listed as a PI or Co-PI or Key Person on a Streamlyne PD for the funded proposal.  All ISU faculty and staff can serve as Co-PIs on sponsored projects.  PI Eligibility Requirements are found on the Office of the Vice President for Research’s website at: https://research.iastate.edu/policies-procedures-tools-assets/principal-investigator-eligibility-guidelines/.

In addition, the following individuals are not eligible to receive incentive distribution:

• Term Faculty (Clinical Track, Teaching Track, Practice Track, Adjunct, and Lecturers) who have been on appointment for less than five years
• Term P&S employees
• Undergraduate Students, Graduate Students, and Post Docs
• Affiliates who are Federal Employees
• Visiting Faculty, Visiting Scientists, and other Visiting Scholars
   

Please note:  All Tenured, Tenured-Eligible and Research Track Faculty are eligible for incentive distribution.

Use of Consistent Proposal Roles (PI, Co-PI, and Key Person)

How individuals are designated on the proposal submission to the sponsor is also how individuals should also be designated on a Streamlyne PD.  An individual listed as Co-PI on a proposal submission should be listed as ‘Co-Investigator’ on the Streamlyne PD.  An individual listed as Key Personnel or Senior Personnel on a proposal submission should be listed as ‘Key Person’ on the Streamlyne PD.  The PI, Co-PIs and Key Persons listed on a proposal submission should also be listed with the same designation on the Streamlyne PD.  If an individual is not listed on the proposal submission but needs to be listed on the Streamlyne PD for contribution or incentive purposes, the individual should be listed on the Streamlyne PD as ‘Key Person.’

Further information

Controller's Department Allowability and Appropriateness
Vice President for Research Principal Investigator Eligibility Guideline