Initiate a Project Specific IDC Waiver
Scroll through the steps below for guidance on how to Initiate a Project Specific IDC Waiver, or use the quick links below to view guidance on a specific IDC Waiver action.
Project-Specific IDC Waiver
If a sponsored project may be charged an indirect cost (IDC) rate less than Stanford’s negotiated rate AND the sponsor is not on the Pre-Approved IDC Exception List, an IDC Waiver Request must be submitted and approved by either the Dean of Research Office or the Dean of the School of Medicine for projects to be administered within the School of Medicine PRIOR TO the proposal being submitted to the sponsor.
One can request a sponsor be added to the Pre-Approved IDC Exception List if:
- The sponsor is a non-profit entity AND
- The sponsor has a published i.e. publicly available written policy regarding use of funds for overhead/indirect cost expenses
To request a sponsor be added to the Pre-Approved IDC Exception List contact the Research Compliance Group and provide:
- The full legal entity business name of the sponsor AND
- A link to their published i.e. publicly available written policy regarding use of funds for overhead/indirect cost expenses
Additional indirect cost policy information is available on Stanford’s DoResearch site 15.2 Indirect (F&A) Cost Waivers
Initiating a Project Specific IDC Waiver Request via a SeRA PDRF
- Log into the SeRA web portal at https://sera.stanford.edu/
- Depending on your level of SeRA access, on the right-hand side of your Home screen (landing page) you will see either a...
- Start Proposal teal button
- Click here and then select PDRF from the drop-down menu
- Start PDRF teal button
- Click here
- Select an Agreement Type by clicking on the drop-down menu and highlight your desired selection
- Review Stanford's agreement type definitions for help determining which agreement type to select
- If the proposal will be prepared in Cayuse select Yes
- Enter the Cayuse Proposal ID
- Click Start
- If a Cayuse proposal has not yet been started for the proposal, you may select No at this time and proceed with starting the PDRF and can link the Cayuse proposal to the PDRF later once it is created
- Please refer to the Linking a Cayuse 424 Proposal to a PDRF guide for complete instructions
- Click Start
- These fields will transfer to the IDC Waiver Request and eliminate duplicate entry or conflicting information
- PI
- Project Title
- Department
- Start Date
- Sponsor/ Entity
- If the Sponsor/ Entity is a US corporation, they must pay Stanford's negotiated IDC rates.
- For non-government sponsors, if the IDC Rate = 0%, then ISC applies. Please change ISC applies to YES.
- Sponsor Deadline and Requested Completion date if applicable
- Project Activity
- On the Budget Questions page of the PDRF a Project-Specific IDC Waiver button will display when the Indirect Cost (IDC) questions are answered as follows
- Does this proposal apply an F&A rate less than Stanford’s negotiated rates? = Yes
- Does this sponsor have a published policy regarding indirect costs? = No
Preparing and Routing a Project-Specific IDC Waiver Request
- Click Project-Specific IDC Waiver button to initiate a request
- A new transaction will be created and the screen will refresh to a Transaction Home (IDC Waiver Request)
- Complete all sections of the request
- Required information is denoted by an asterisk *
Project Information
If previously entered on the PDRF, information will be copied to the IDC Waiver Request except for the Brief Project Description information
Budget Information
Rationale
- Indirect costs represents true facilities and administrative costs for the University. Describe the special circumstances that justify the University covering these costs for your research
- Add appropriate Approvers & FYIs
- PI (do not add - routes automatically)
- The relevant School Dean’s Office
- For projects to be administered within the School of Humanities & Sciences and within the School of Engineering, please see : LINK HERE
- For projects to be administered within other schools or independent labs, please consult with your dean’s office for who to add, if anyone
- Dean of Research Office
- Do not add - the IDC Waiver Transaction is routed to them automatically
- Navigate to the Attachments page by clicking Attachments in the left-hand navigation or by clicking the Next button at the bottom of the page and add necessary documents
- At minimum, a draft budget and scope of work MUST be attached
- Click on Add New Attachment to attach each document
- Select Waiver as the Category from the dropdown menu options
- Select the appropriate Subcategory from the dropdown menu options
- Choose your file location
- Enter meaningful Notes to assist in quickly identifying the attachment such as Internal Budget Final
- Click Attach and repeat previous steps for each additional attachment
- Before submitting the IDC Waiver transaction for approval, you can click Check for Errors to ensure all required fields have been completed
- Once all information has been completed click the Submit for Approval button on bottom of the page or in the Actions menu on the right-hand navigation
Need further SeRA assistance? Have questions, feedback, or are experiencing other issues? Please submit a HelpSU ticket to the SeRA Support Team and a SeRA Support Analyst will contact you shortly.