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Researchers March 25, 2021
What are the Benefits to Research Remaining Unfunded?

There are thousands of different avenues a researcher can turn to in order to find someone to fund their work. But the pool of money to draw from is not without limit, and the global competitive nature of science, particularly in fields like technology and healthcare, makes it difficult sometimes to be awarded grants to cover the costs of the work.

The importance of funding in research is often so focused on that it’s easy to forget about the times when scholars don’t get their grants and still continue to perform the tasks needed to answer the questions that must be solved. Whether there’s a budget deficit between the money allotted and the true cost of the work, or whether there was no funding in the first place, the show must go on for some of these academic knowledge pursuers. To researchers, all knowledge has value, and even if they don’t have the funding to do what must be done, it has to be followed up with. In some cases, it’s considered more beneficial to not have a funder, and therefore answer to no one but science.

The True Cost of Conducting Research

Billions of dollars in research and development is spent annually around the world to continue to upgrade current knowledge and technology. But sponsors aren’t always available to cover all the costs of the research. Many times, direct costs are paid by funding sources like federal agencies, private industries, nonprofits, and state or local governments. Other costs that aren’t directly covered in the grant’s conditions must be picked up by the institution or another source. Sometimes these costs can be subsidized by the original funding source after the project is complete; other times, it’s a direct loss for the company or individual paying it.

Conducting research is not cheap. There are three main categories of overhead, including direct research costs, full research costs, and the extra that is covered by university contributions. This breaks down like, but not comprehensively, as follows:

●      Direct research costs: Researcher and staff salaries, partial tuition for graduate students, lab supplies, journal publishing fees, some research equipment on the approved list, travel to conduct the research

●      Full research costs: Anything considered a facilities and administrative cost or an indirect cost, such as proportional payments toward research and lab facilities, compliance and management, training, utilities and overhead, technology infrastructures, library and research costs, hazardous waste disposal, certain research equipment usage

●      University contributions: It’s expected that the institution in which the research occurs will help contribute to expenses such as the buildings and labs, administrative costs not covered by the federal government beyond the cap, start-up funds, research administration staff, physical and digital library overhead, and subsidies.

These costs can add up to a hefty expense, especially if the research is time-consuming, complex, and interinstitutional.

What Does “Unfunded” Mean?

“Unfunded” is not totally true in most cases. There are portions of research that are funded, and others that are not. The term “unfunded” usually means that some of the costs are taken care of through a grant, but the others must be covered another way, often by the scientists themselves.

This self-driven research comes at a literal cost out of the pocket of the researchers, but many times they will say that it’s worth the price. When you don’t have to adhere to the allowable and disallowable expenses the funder sets forth, you have much more freedom and flexibility to do what’s best for the research and your own timeline.

This type of research is most commonly seen in projects that don’t have a lot of “big money” impact, but do benefit small communities or specific groups. Many individual scholars want to make a difference with their work and they start locally or small. From homeless research to mental health contributions, science is not always about the global issues and the things that can garner a return on investment financially. To those who don’t mind funding their own work for causes they believe in, the benefit far outweighs the cost.

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About the author
Jason Collins- Writer
Jason is a writer for many niche brands with experience “bringing stories to life” for both startups and corporate partners.
Jason Collins
Writer
Jason is a writer for many niche brands with experience “bringing stories to life” for both startups and corporate partners.
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