FEC Methodology

All research projects must be costed on the basis of the Full Economic Costing (FEC) methodology, and approved by R&IS prior to submission. FEC calculates the total costs to the University of undertaking a project or activity in a sustainable manner, and is defined as ‘a price, which if recovered across an organisation’s full programme, would recover the total cost (direct, indirect and total overhead) including an adequate investment into the organisation’s infrastructure (www.jcpsg.ac.uk/guidance/)

Under FEC, Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in the UK are required to identify all direct and indirect costs for each research project, including space/estate charges, depreciation, an adequate recurring investment for infrastructure, equipment, consumables, travel and the cost of all staff working on the project (including Principal Investigators, research assistants, technical and administrative staff)

Pricing

The HEFCE Financial Memorandum says:

‘Institutions should seek to recover the full economic costs of all their activities, whether pricing is determined by reference to those full economic costs or by reference to prevailing market conditions. While there may be cases for individual projects or activities to be priced at below their full economic costs, this should be done as a conscious decision, within the context of strategic objectives.