On September 18, 2025, the real-time distribution of 5% of indirect Cost (IDC) recoveries to Faculty and Professional Staff with sponsored activities went into effect. This real-time distribution credits PI IDC accounts with their share of the 5% of IDCs according to the award’s Distribution of Credit (DOC) on record with Sponsored Programs. The DOC is determined at the time of proposal submission via the Internal Proposal Form (IPR) and assigns credit for the grant activity among Principal Investigators and Co-Investigators.
Real-time means that as costs are charged in KFS on research and other sponsored activity projects KFS automatically posts the appropriate indirect cost recovery on the grant and the PI 5% share to faculty recipients. The reverse happens if there is an adjustment to a sponsored project that moves costs off. Faculty will see the allocation in their IDC accounts in object code 4900, Indirect Cost Recovery Revenue. Faculty and Professional staff who are eligible to serve as Principal Investigators due to their title and rank are automatically eligible to receive an IDC distribution. Other categories of employment that are normally considered ineligible to serve as Principal Investigator will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis via the Request for Approval to Serve as Principal Investigator form to determine if they will receive an IDC distribution. Postdoctoral fellows, students, and special payroll employees are not eligible to receive an IDC distribution.
This real-time distribution uses existing KFS functionality to automatically complete the distribution. Faculty and administrators are asked to proactively manage their sponsored project distribution of credit information to ensure accurate distribution of IDCs.
IDCs are not distributed on grants less than $50,000 if these grants are handled under the OVPR’s Small Grant Program.
Information regarding IDCs can be found on the OVPR website.
Indirect Costs – definitions and rates
Distribution of Credit – definitions and practical applications
Guidelines as to the intended use of distributed IDCs
Effort by federal administration to Cap F&A at 15%
If you do not find what you are looking for or have other questions about this change, please email Julie.schwager@uconn.edu or Deanna Thibodeau, dthibodeau@uchc.edu with “IDC distribution” in the subject line.
For more information, contact: Matt Engelhardt at matthew.engelhardt@uconn.edu