Funding fundamentals guidance

Types of Funding Sources

Duke receives funding from countless Federal and For-Profit/Non-Profit organizations, including the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the National Science Foundation (NSF), the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the U.S. Department of Energy (DoE), the National Endowment of the Arts (NEA), and numerous foundations and associations. Duke's top two sponsors are the NIH and NSF. 

Types of Funding Instruments

Grant: A grant is awarded to the University through a financial assistance mechanism, on behalf of an individual, in order to support the performance of research or program as denoted in the accepted application. A grant is selected as the funding instrument when the sponsor does not expect significant programmatic involvement with the recipient during the performance of the scope of work. With a scope of work funded by a grant, the Principal Investigator (PI) is permitted some flexibility to modify emphasis within the general area of work as the project progresses.

Typically, a grant may be identified by the following criteria:

• The award dictates terms and conditions on how the financial support may be utilized as well as any specific financial or regulatory restrictions; the aims to be accomplished by the use of funds; identifies the individual responsible for finishing the scope of work; the period of performance; and the invention rights.
• The sponsor maintains authority to hold back funding support if the results of the scope of work have not been adequately completed. Any remaining funds not used during the performance of the project may be returned to the sponsor.
• A restricted fund code (WBS element) is necessary to provide formal financial accounting during the life and/or at the end of the sponsored project.
• Reports are mandatory at specific intervals of the scope of work and/or at its termination. A copy of publications may be requested of as well.
• Payments are released in increments to the University to ensure continuity of financing for the project.
• Indirect or facilities and administrative (F&A) are typically applied in the funding support along with a commitment of University facilities, personnel, and other resources.

Cooperative Agreement: A cooperative agreement is a funding mechanism which facilitates significantly more sponsor involvement and restrictions with the scope of work than a grant.  The primary objective of this funding relationship is to transfer funds, services, personnel, equipment, or other resources to the University in order to achieve a public purpose aligned with the sponsor's mission of support. For instance, the NIH U01 activity code provides support to recipients via a research project cooperative agreement.

Contract: A contract is awarded to the University through an acquisition mechanism for the intent of a procurement action of a product or service with specific commitments of the sponsor and recipient addressed. Generally, a sponsor will request a specific research interest or service with the process provided of how the work will be conducted in a thorough description, while other sponsors will award contracts in response to an unsolicited announcement type. Deliverables are outlined with the expectation of completion by a particular time frame. As a result, there is less flexibility in how the work is conducted to complete the deliverables.

Cost Reimbursement Contracts - This contract provides payment for actual direct and indirect costs for the performance of the outlined tasks. As costs that are not encumbered will be returned to the sponsor, this type of contract offers the least risk to the University. It insinuates that a valiant effort will be made to complete the tasks but offers no guarantee of specific results.

Fixed Price Contracts - This contract provides a fixed allotment as a total-sum payment or aggregated payment schedule to complete the specific tasks outlined or delivery of a certain allotment of product or service. Therefore, fixed price contracts need to be utilized only when costs for a delivery of product or allotment amount are effortlessly definable. This type of contract offers more risk to the University and the PI as the defined task results are still required even if the total-sum payment is not enough to cover the costs to complete the task and additional funds are utilized.

Types of Funding Opportunities