Grant Application
The grant application should consist of a research proposal, and commitment letters from the primary applicant’s organization and from each collaborator’s or subcontractor’s organization acknowledging and accepting the foundation’s indirect cost policy.
The research proposal includes information on the research topic, the scope of work, goals and outcomes of the project, duration of the project, proposed start date, principal investigators, potential collaborators, and describe required resources and financing requirements. The proposed budget should show direct costs and indirect costs in the respective structure.
Grant Amount & Period
The grant amount is a subject of the proposed scope of work and typically varies from $50.000 up to $4.000.000. The grant period is usually from 6 months up to 5 years.
Indirect Cost Guidance
We aim to structure grants in a way that is practical for our research partners, and that makes sense from a financial perspective. We commonly provide funding by periodic tranches during the overall duration of the project. We encourage our research partners to deliver results efficiently and effectively through open and ongoing dialogue about required resources and achieved progress. As grant proposals are developed and projects executed, we try to gain a complete and accurate understanding of the total costs to run the project and achieve its goals.
Our founders prefer to use foundation contributions primarily to cover the direct costs of the projects that we have decided to support rather than to cover the indirect costs of the beneficiaries. However, we are aware that beneficiaries have certain general facilities and administrative expenses that are not directly related to the projects funded by the foundation but are necessary to support grant-funded projects or activities. We set this indirect cost policy taking into consideration the interests of both parties.
Direct Costs
The essence of this policy is to fund direct costs, i.e., the expenses that are directly attributable to project outcomes, and to limit the reimbursement of indirect costs, i.e., the expenses associated with the general running of the business of a research partner.
The most frequent examples of direct costs are research team salaries, associated travel expenses, materials and equipment required for the research, consultants, and other third-party contractors working on the research. These costs would generally not exist in the absence of grant funding.
Indirect Costs
In contrast, indirect costs include general administration expenses, such as salaries to HR, legal, finance, and other administrative personnel running day-to-day activities of a research partner, costs for utilities, facilities and communications associated with central operational functions, etc., as these costs would typically be incurred by a research partner even in the absence of the grant.
We set the following limitations to the indirect costs covered by the foundation:
- Up to 15% of direct costs for grants with the total direct costs not exceeding $1.000.000 (or an equivalent in local currency)
- Up to 10% of direct costs for grants with the total direct costs between $1.000.000 and $3.000.000 (or an equivalent in local currency)
- 1% for grants with the total direct costs exceeding $3.000.000 (or an equivalent in local currency)
Note that grants with direct costs exceeding $3.000.000 are considered to be exceptional awards. Such grants (usually of long-term duration, around 5 years) are intended not only to support specific scientific goals but also to develop new centers of excellence in human aging or epigenetics by providing resources for establishing cutting-edge computational and omics capabilities in this area. In this sense, such grants are intended to provide initial infrastructural momentum for the development of human aging or epigenetic research at the host institution and to support the creation of a long-term, self-sustaining research community.
The indirect costs rates in funding requests should not exceed the maximum rates described above. The maximum indirect-cost rates are intended as guidelines rather than entitlements. Applicants with actual indirect-costs below the applicable maximum should not increase their funding request to reach the allowed limit. Proposed budgets will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis, with careful consideration of both direct and indirect costs.
Our goal is to ensure sufficient funding of actually incurred costs and not to create surpluses for beneficiaries. As we cooperate based on the principle of transparency, we reserve the right to request a specification and reasonable substantiation of our research partner’s indirect costs. We can also request proof of expenses incurred during the project execution.
The limitations of indirect costs described above apply to both the primary applicant organization and any collaborator’s or subcontractor’s organization. The maximum indirect cost rate for all participants is defined by the total amount of direct costs of the entire grant.
This policy is intended to enhance transparency among applicants, and we undertake to apply these principles equitably to all research partners and beneficiaries.
Exceptions
In well-founded cases, the Foundation reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to make exceptions to the above policies. Such exceptions may be considered where specific project circumstances, institutional constraints, or other relevant factors are appropriately justified.