Research Support | What should I Charge?

What should I charge?

If you are planning to engage with industry, please contact Research and Innovation Support (RIS), who will assist with the costings, negotiations and contracts.  It is important that you discuss the scope of the project with your potential industry partners but do not make budget commitments without having first had the discussion with RIS.  Listed below are some of the key items that will be considered when preparing your budget and determining what you should charge.

The first step is to decide on the scope of the project and determine what resources are required to carry out the work in the timeframe that meets the external partner’s expectations.  Costs can then be assigned to each.  The scope and resources may be amended to make best use of the funds is only a fixed budget is available.

Direct Costs

Direct costs are those that can be attributed directly to the project.  Typical direct costs on industry engagement projects include:

Personnel:  PI time should be included.  RIS can provide advice in relation to this.  Salaries must include PRSI at 10.85% and pension contribution at 20%.  For contract research staff, use the Irish Universities Association (IUA) Researcher Salary Scales. Students are not typically employed on industry/commercialisation projects due to potential IP and/or timeframe issues.  If they are funded, student fees must be included under salaries.  See the RIS PhD fees and stipend page for guidance.

Materials: Ensure that all relevant materials (including software licenses) are appropriately costed.

Travel:  For industry engagements, you will typically need to be specific about what travel will be undertaken, e.g. where, when, purpose etc.

Equipment / Access to Equipment: For large/key pieces of equipment owned by DCU it is recommended that access rates are calculated and that these rates (e.g. per day, per hour, per experiment etc.) are used for all project costings.  See the RIS How to resource your project page for further information.

Indirect Costs / Overheads

All projects should include both direct and indirect costs.  Indirect costs (overheads) are costs that cannot be attributed directly to the project.  They include basic services provided by DCU such as the use of facilities and related costs such as light and heat.  Indirect costs for industry engagement projects are typically in the range of 40%-150%, with the amount influenced by IP and negotiations.  For example, overheads are typically higher for projects where the company expects rights to any generated foreground IP compared to projects where DCU retains ownership.  The overheads are distributed according the DCU Overhead Distribution Policy, with 30% available to the PI on the project for his/her personal research account.

VAT

Value Added Tax (VAT) should be included on all budget items on research projects with industry involvement.  The current rate in Ireland is 23% and should be applied to all direct and indirect costs.  Some exceptions to this rule include Public Good projects and projects funded by Enterprise Ireland and Science Foundation Ireland.  RIS will be able to clarify if your project requires VAT to be included or if it is an exception to the rule.

Consultancy

Consultancy projects are managed under the DCU Consultancy Policy. The total cost of the consultancy project should include the daily rate, direct costs and VAT.

Direct costs should include receipted items such as materials, travel, access to equipment etc.  Also, if the PI on the project (who will charge a daily rate for their time) employs a researcher to assist with some aspect of the work, the researcher’s salary can be included as a direct cost.

The PI employed to carry out the consultancy should charge a daily rate for their work.  70% of the daily rate goes directly to the PI for his/her own research account.  Whatever rate is chosen, it must be justifiable.  Justification could include comparisons with specialist firms or previous experience/projects.  Consultancy work should be priced at its value rather than its cost.  University staff are typically employed as consultants due to the fact that they have significant expertise and knowledge, gained from years working in their field, which is not readily found elsewhere.  It is important that expertise and experience is valued and priced accordingly and that the effect of perceived value is not underestimated.  Sample daily rates charged on previous projects include €300-€1000 for a postdoctoral researcher, €800-€1,500 for a Lecturer/Senior Lecturer and €800-€2,500 for a Professor.  It is important to emphasise that these are just examples and that rates vary significantly depending on the market/discipline/level of expertise/specific role etc.

Examples

Example 1: Industry-Funded Research Project (12 Months)

Example 2: Consultancy Project (5 Days)

See Also

How to resource your project

PhD fees and stipends

DCU Consultancy policy