- Author: Kathleen P Nolan
Participant Support Costs means direct costs for items such as stipends, subsistence allowances, travel allowances, and registration fees paid to or on behalf of participants or trainees (but not employees) in connection with conferences, or training projects. This is unchanged from the prior circulars. Therefore costs for UC employees should be placed in the appropriate direct cost line item (i.e. Travel) as opposed to the Participant Support line item.
Participant Support Costs are also only allowable with prior approval from the Federal agency. So when preparing your budget these costs must be explicitly listed in the proposal budget or approved by the Federal agency after the award has been made. Prior Approval is also required to rebudget funds in or out of the Participant Support line item.
Participant support costs are not routinely allowed on research projects, but can be charged if the project includes an education or outreach component and the agency approved such costs.
The main change to this category in the Uniform Guidance is that the Uniform Guidance has adopted NSF policies regarding the calculation of indirect costs on Participant Support Costs. Namely, Participant Support Costs will now be a standard exemption category when using a Modified Total Direct Cost Base (which is the base our federally negotiated rate uses). So this line item should be excluded from the base when calculating the indirect costs when using our federally negotiated rate.
Participant Support Costs is not a standard line item. You can always contact OCG@ucanr.edu with questions on whether or not something is appropriate to budget as participant support and whether or not indirect costs should be applied against that line item.
Thank you.
Kathleen P. Nolan
Director, Contracts and Grants