"Indirect costs" are costs which are necessary for implementing the project, but can not be directly allocated to it (because their share for the project cannot be exactly established).
Typical examples include costs of renting, operating costs, cost of office equipment, telephone and copy costs.
All participants receive a flat rate of 25 % of their eligible direct costs. Costs for subcontracting, in-kind contributions by third parties that are not used on the beneficiary’s premises (e.g. use of research infrastructure of a third party on the premises of that third party), financial support to third parties and other costs in special budget categories that include indirect costs are exempted from these eligible direct costs (i.e. they are not considered when calculating the 25 % flat rate).
This flat rate is paid irrespective of the actual amount of indirect costs and automatically calculated in the financial statement. Any actual indirect costs exceeding this amount must be borne by the participants themselves.
Please note that also indirect costs must be multiplied by the applicable funding rate (e.g. 100 %, 70 %).
More information can be found ...
- in the Annotated Grant Agreement (AGA), article 6.2.E.