The Department of Energy defended in court its decision to restrict how much federal research funding universities can use for indirect costs as critical to reining in unnecessary spending.
“Although indirect costs can support related research functions, every dollar spent on indirect costs is one not spent on the Department’s core mission,” the Energy Department argued in its brief filed Wednesday with the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.
The “Policy Flash” capping indirect costs—such as lab equipment and administrative staff pay—is part of DOE’s goal “to establish new contract terms that rein in spending on ...