Research Policies Specific to the College of Letters and Science
Cost Sharing
Cost sharing, also known as “cost-share” or “fund matching,” is that portion of the project or program costs that are not paid by the funding agency. The best practice for cost sharing is not to cost share unless required by a funding agency. However, when cost sharing or matching is required or competitively necessary, the College practices and guidelines are outlined here for PI reference. See Cost Sharing Practices for more information.
Course Buyout
Course buyout may be derived from sponsored projects to replace institutional funds budgeted for faculty salary and fringe benefits, and it is only intended to relieve a faculty member of his/her teaching duties for a particular academic quarter. The policy specifies the rules to follow and the limitations on the number of buyouts and the related expense. Whether the buyout is internal or external is also a consideration. See Course Buyout Policy for more information.
External Fellowships
The College of L&S will treat external fellowships for faculty and graduate students received through UC Davis as extramural funding. These fellowships must go through the appropriate review process either through the Sponsored Programs Office (faculty) or the Office of Graduate Studies (graduate students). A process map is available for identifying the steps in processing faculty and graduate students external fellowships.
Informed Agreement Policy
The Informed Agreement Policy is utilized when the sponsoring agency’s contract language for a research project does not conform to the accepted practices of the university. The Office of Research will not finalize the award until an “informed agreement” for the matter in question is signed by all parties, including the Office of the Dean for the Principal Investigator. Because there is a measure of risk involved with such an award, it is necessary that the responsible parties are informed (generally, the PI and the Chair/Director) and understand the terms that are specified. Please see the college policy here.
Salary Recovery
Salary recovery occurs when institutional funds budgeted for faculty salary and fringe benefits during the academic year are released because of corresponding salary and benefit charges to sponsored projects. The College policy specifies the rules to follow and the limitations on released funds available for return to the faculty member, their department and College. See Salary Recovery Policy for more information.