FAQs

FAQ for BYU Sponsored Projects Indirect Cost Rate Change from 50% to 51.5% effective January 1, 2022

If there is a funding opportunity listed in grants.gov, the proposal can be submitted via S2S.

Contact your Sponsored Projects Administrator to add your adjunct faculty co-PI to the system. Only full-time faculty are automatically in the system.

87-0217280

UT-003

00-909-4012

JWSYC7RUMJD1

52534

FWA00001266

D16-00461 (previously A3783-01)

Modified total direct cost

June 11, 2025

Colleges or departments may designate someone to sign NDAs, but usually the researcher most closely involved with the work contemplated by the NDA signs. The official BYU policy on signing agreements can be found at https://policy.byu.edu/view/index.php?p=115. If a researcher is unfamiliar with NDA terms or has questions on a particular NDA, Dave Brown in the Technology Transfer Office can provide a review. On rare occasions, companies may require that a senior officer at the university sign an NDA and the Office of General Counsel can assist with such requests.

BYU discourages "Work for Hire."

If it is determined that a proposed project will be “Work for Hire," the following questions need to be considered by the PI, his/her Chair and Dean (or Associate Dean):

1. Does this work contribute substantially to the faculty member's professional development?
2. Is there significant student experience or education that is a product of this work?
3. What is the level of usage of University resources (lab space, equipment usage, student time, faculty time)?
4. What is the expected duration of the intended work? Are there undesirable factors? i.e. a short-term arrangement or a collection of work-for-hire jobs?

Under federal law, "Work for Hire" is a copyright term. It is often used by industry and other private sponsors to create a psuedo employer-employee, outside contractor or vendor relationship. The advantage to the sponsor is that any intellectual property resulting from such an arrangement belongs to the sponsor. Further there is usually no anticipation of any publications on the outcome(s). The university becomes a corporate vendor that can extend the ability of the sponsor to do experiments or routine analyses that are not available to the sponsor in-house. An educational component useful in training students or in the development of the faculty member's expertise may be a mitigating factor when considering such projects (i.e. capstone projects).