Research and facilities managers at many of the nation’s major universities have been in a state of flux in recent months as the administration seeks to limit reimbursement for indirect costs to the institutions. The action affects facilities managers because research grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF) are used in part to fund maintenance of universities’ research facilities. Now, a federal judge has sided with the universities.
The judge recently granted summary judgment in favor of several universities and higher education organizations that had sued the NSF over its attempt to limit the reimbursement of indirect costs associated with research grants funded by the agency, according to Forbes.
U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani vacated NSF’s policy of capping its indirect cost payments at a standard rate of 15 percent, declaring it “invalid, arbitrary and capricious, and contrary to law.”
The decision represents the latest legal setback for the administration, which has tried — so far unsuccessfully — to impose the 15 percent cap on grants funded by other federal agencies, including the National Institutes of Health. U.S. judges have previously blocked similar funding caps at the NIH and the U.S. Department of Energy.
Dan Hounsell is senior editor for the facilities market. He has more than 30 years of experience writing about facilities maintenance, engineering and management.?
