Federally Funded Research & Development Centers

Federally funded research and development centers (FFRDCs) are a special type of government owned, contractor-operated research centers that conduct research and development (R&D) and related activities in support of a federal agency’s mission. The federal government currently operates 42 FFRDCs which are detailed in this list provided by NSF.

Inclusion of funds to support work conducted by an FFRDC under a UMaine project is allowable. Careful consideration must be paid to the sponsor guidance as to how the FFRDC will be included in the project budget.

In some circumstances, the FFRDC will be paid directly by the federal sponsor and their project dollars will not be received at UMaine. In this case, the UMaine internal budget will not reflect the FFRDC funds but the budget submitted to the sponsor will reflect the FFRDC funds. The budget justification will include these costs with a note indicating the funds will be paid directly from the federal sponsor to the FFRDC. Under this setup, funds for the FFRDC are not subject to UMaine indirect costs.

If the FFRDC will be paid by UMaine, the FFRDC will be included in the UMaine budget as a vendor or subrecipient depending on the nature of the relationship and included in the indirect cost base.