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AAFA BUDGET AND FINANCE ADMINISTRATION AAFA FINANCE
  1. AAFA-Budget and Finance Administration
  2. EVC Requests
  3. General Campus Matching Funds Program Guidelines

General Campus Matching Funds Program Guidelines

Last Updated: 09/02/2026

Overview

General Campus PIs may submit cost-sharing requests to the Office of the Executive Vice Chancellor Academic Affairs (EVC). Requests must be submitted through their General Campus departments or ORUs and routed to the respective School Dean for departments and other non-ORUs centers or similar units, or the Vice Chancellor for Research (VCR) for ORUs.  Cost-sharing requests will only be considered for proposals that are large proposals or center grants, interdisciplinary and cross-divisional, and have the endorsement of the respective Deans or VCR. Communications to initiate a request for cost-sharing should occur ideally at least one month prior to the submission deadline. Requests will not be considered after a proposal has been submitted.

 Eligibility Requirements

  • Match explicitly required by the agency in the RFP or solicitation.
  • Proposals include the full, normal, campus IDC rates.
  • Proposals must be submitted and managed by an Academic Affairs department, ORU or similar unit.
  • Proposals deemed large will exceed $1M per year in total funding [direct cost (DC) & indirect cost (IDC)].
  • Proposals deemed interdisciplinary should involve at least three faculty from at least two Schools.

 

Cost-Sharing Commitment

For proposals that meet all the eligibility requirements, the EVC will match cost-sharing provided by the units at a ratio of 2:3 up to a maximum of 5% of modified total direct costs (MTDC). The 2:3 ratio reflects the current IDC sharing with 20% retained by the EVC and 30% allocated to the Schools of 30%.

For proposals where a match is not required by the agency but where the granting agency guidelines indicate that a match would increase the chances of award, and that meet all other eligibility requirements, the EVC will match cost-sharing provided by the units at a ratio of 2:3 up to a maximum of 2.5% of modified total direct costs (MTDC). The 2:3 ratio reflects the current IDC sharing with 20% retained by the EVC and 30% allocated to the Schools.

The EVC match will apply only to ‘cash’ cost-sharing provided by the units. If matching support in the form of graduate student fellowships is requested it should be specifically noted and the EVC office will coordinate with the Dean of the Division of Graduate Education and Postdoctoral Affairs to address the request. “In-kind" support is also often appropriate and should be considered but would not be eligible for EVC matching.

The value of the ‘cash’ cost-sharing should also reflect unrecovered indirect costs per Uniform Guidance (UG) regulations that went into effect in December 2014: “Unrecovered indirect costs, including indirect costs on cost-sharing or matching may be included as part of cost-sharing or matching only with the prior approval of the Federal awarding agency. Unrecovered indirect cost means the difference between the amount charged to the Federal award and the amount which could have been charged to the Federal award under the non-Federal entity's approved negotiated indirect cost rate.” If mandatory cost-sharing is included in the solicitation and unrecovered IDC is not listed as appropriate, Principal Investigators (PIs) may request permission of the agency to use it. PIs may wish to include the amount as part of the proposal with an explicit request to use the unrecovered IDC as part of the match.

Equipment grants that do not generate IDC will generally continue to rely on funds provided by the EVC to the Deans for matching contributions. Only exceptional requests will be considered by the EVC's office. If the final award is reduced from that proposed in the budget, the EVC's match will be reduced proportionately. Inclusion of voluntarily committed cost sharing is prohibited in NSF proposals unless specifically required by the program solicitation.

Once the Department and PI has reviewed the Matching Funds Guidelines and confirmed that the proposal satisfies the Eligibility requirements, please complete General Campus Matching Funds Program Application Form (Word file) and route to your respective School for further approval and routing.

 

Other Cost-Sharing Strategies

When required cost-sharing exceeds an amount equal to 5% MTDC, and/or the EVC guidelines are not met, then it will be necessary for Investigators to seek additional support from their dean(s) and department(s), and to utilize available forms of "in-kind" matching that can be identified as project-specific and are otherwise allowable under UCSD and sponsor policies. Examples of the latter might be staffing support from departments or ORUs, use of participating faculty "startup" funding, use of departmental shared facilities, or use of available campus core facilities. Campus cost-sharing should include estimates of IDC costs that would have otherwise been provided by the Agency. Other non-UC San Diego commitments can include funds or donated equipment from external, non-federal partners or donors.