The Office of the Vice President for Finance sets policy and definitions for equipment, including major (capital), minor, and fabricated equipment.
Equipment included in sponsored project budgets must be:
- Necessary for the performance of the project
- Allowable. General-purpose equipment like laptops is typically not allowable, unless its primary use is for the project and clarified in the budget justification.
- Of reasonable cost
- Allocable to the project (i.e., equipment benefits this particular project)
- Purchased at a time consistent with the project's period of performance
Major (Capital) Equipment
Major equipment has an acquisition cost of at least $5,000.
- Sponsor regulations: Subject to agency/sponsor regulations and award terms and conditions. Some sponsors do not allow for major equipment.
- Estimates: Use written quotations or catalog prices.
- F&A applicability: Excluded from the F&A cost base
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A Beckman Digimax Signal Analyzer is required to monitor the animal behavioral day-night studies. The laboratory's analyzer is over 10 years old and is no longer supported by the vendor; it has limited capability for the types of experiments we are now proposing. The current vendor quote is $12,500.
A $6,000 high-speed, multipurpose Centro-lab Centrifuge is requested. Because of the number and complexity of experiments proposed, a dedicated centrifuge is required. All lab personnel supported on this project will use this equipment.
Minor Equipment
Minor equipment has an acquisition cost of less than $5,000.
- Sponsor regulations: Not subject to sponsor requirements governing major (capital) equipment
- F&A applicability: Included in the Modified Total Direct Cost base; therefore, F&A is applied to minor equipment charged to research awards
- Budget under Supplies & Materials/Materials & Services, unless the sponsor has a specific line category for minor equipment
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Three laptop computers ($1,000 each) are requested. Research personnel (GRAs and RAs) will take these laptops to the field to record data during interviews with human subjects, assist with statistical analysis, and facilitate communications among research project personnel through the 12-month survey period.
Fabricated Equipment
Characteristics of fabricated equipment:
- Unique, specialized equipment
- Not commercially available (can’t be purchased “off the shelf”)
- Useful life of more than one year
- Aggregate cost of materials and services is $5,000 or more (excluding labor costs)
- Used within the confines of MIT's facilities
Questions about MIT's definition of fabricated equipment should be directed to the MIT Property Office.
- Sponsor regulations: May require sponsor approval
- F&A applicability: If the fabricated item is delivered to the sponsor (or sponsor-directed third parties) before it is used in place at MIT for at least one year, it will be considered a Deliverable End Item and will incur F&A. Otherwise, fabricated items incur F&A costs based on their materials and labor.
- Materials/components: Excluded in F&A costs if at least $5,000.
- Labor: F&A charges apply to labor costs, regardless of the amount.
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These components are required to construct the proposed new radio telescope. This will be a unique research tool, and no commercial vendor is known. MIT will fabricate the refinement detectors under the subaward described in this proposal. The Institute will assemble, test, transport, and deploy the new telescope at the Sunny Island site.
Any significant component costs should be individually supported with vendor quotes and descriptions of the purpose or function in the final equipment. If there are alternatives, they should be cited with justification for the final choice.