Healthy Gut is committed to funding rigorous, independent research. To ensure that the funds we commit go directly to the science, we maintain a standing limit on the indirect (overhead) costs charged against any study we sponsor.

Effective date: January 1, 2026  ·  Applies to all sponsored research agreements

Philosophy

Healthy Gut sponsors clinical and pre-clinical research at universities, academic medical centers, and independent research organizations. We believe good stewardship means directing the maximum share of every research dollar to the work itself — the investigators, the participants, the assays, and the analysis — rather than to institutional overhead.

This page sets out the maximum indirect cost rate Healthy Gut will pay on any sponsored project. It is published here so that partnering institutions and principal investigators may reference it directly and submit it with internal funding and grant paperwork. All research that Healthy Gut supports is understood to be covered by the rate below.

Policy Statement

Healthy Gut will fund indirect costs (also referred to as overhead, facilities and administrative costs, or F&A) at a rate not to exceed ten percent (10%) of the qualifying total direct costs of any research project we sponsor. This limit applies to every sponsored research agreement, service agreement, or material transfer agreement into which Healthy Gut enters, regardless of the institution’s published or federally negotiated indirect cost rate.

Institutions accepting Healthy Gut research funding agree that the 10% ceiling represents full and complete payment of indirect costs associated with the project. Any indirect cost recovery above 10% is the responsibility of the performing institution, not Healthy Gut.

Definitions

Direct costs

Costs that can be attributed specifically to the funded study and would not be incurred if the study did not exist — including investigator effort, participant compensation, laboratory assays, project-specific materials, and data analysis.

Indirect costs (overhead / F&A)

General overhead and administrative expenses that support the institution’s overall operations and are shared across projects — for example, facilities, utilities, central administration, HR, IT, and legal.

Qualifying total direct costs (the base)

The direct-cost total on which the 10% indirect rate is calculated, after the exclusions described below are removed.

Indirect cost rate

Budgeted indirect costs divided by qualifying total direct costs. Many universities apply rates above 40%; Healthy Gut caps its contribution at 10%.

Basis of Calculation

The 10% rate is applied to qualifying total direct costs. The following are excluded from the base before the indirect rate is applied:

• Capital equipment purchased or funded by Healthy Gut for the project.
• Sub-awards and subcontracts beyond the first $25,000 of each agreement.
• Pass-through and commodity purchases, including participant incentives and third-party laboratory fees, where these represent a material portion of the budget.

A grantee whose actual indirect cost rate is lower than 10% should propose its actual rate rather than defaulting to the maximum. The intent of this policy is to fund real costs, not to generate a surplus.

Sub-Awards and Subcontractors

The 10% ceiling applies to the primary institution and to any sub-recipient or subcontractor. Each organization performing funded work may recover indirect costs up to 10% of its own qualifying direct costs; the primary institution may not layer an additional indirect charge on funds passed through to a sub-recipient.

Scope

• This policy applies to all research funded in whole or in part by Healthy Gut, whether conducted internally, at a university, or through an independent contract research organization.
• The treatment of costs in any one agreement is determined on a case-by-case basis and is not precedent-setting for other agreements.
• Healthy Gut reserves the right to request substantiation of any grantee’s stated indirect cost rate and to review supporting documentation before and after an award.

Examples of Direct and Indirect Costs

The table below illustrates how common cost categories are typically classified. Where a cost could reasonably be either, the determining factor is whether it is required by, and specifically allocable to, the funded project.

Category	Direct (funded outside the 10%)	Indirect (covered within the 10%)
Personnel	Investigator and study-staff effort dedicated to the project, substantiated by timekeeping.	Executive management and central administrative staff (finance, HR, IT, legal).
Facilities	Project-specific space such as a clinic, laboratory bench, or study office.	Institutional headquarters, general campus facilities, and utilities.
Equipment	Equipment purchased or operated specifically for the project.	Depreciation on general institutional equipment.
Consultants	Contracted staff working directly on the study.	General administrative services such as routine accounting or audit.
Other	Participant compensation, project-specific supplies, and study-specific assays.	Institution-wide information systems and back-office support.

For Principal Investigators

If you are preparing an internal funding request or research agreement involving Healthy Gut, you may cite this policy directly and include this page with your submission. Where an institution maintains a process to reduce or waive indirect costs for industry-sponsored research, this published limit is intended to support that reduction.

A modest, published indirect cost limit allows more of every research dollar to reach the science itself — which we believe serves investigators, institutions, and the broader field alike.

© 2026 Healthy Gut. This policy is published for reference by partnering research institutions and is subject to periodic review. In the event of any conflict, the specific terms of the executed research agreement between Healthy Gut and the performing institution govern.