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  5. Do I, as a Principal Investigator (PI), need to include the University’s overhead in my research contract budget?

Do I, as a Principal Investigator (PI), need to include the University’s overhead in my research contract budget?

Yes, in general, the University’s overhead has to be included in research contract budgets.

For research contracts to be entered by CUHK, the scale of overhead charges for contracts to provide research, knowledge transfer, consultancy or other services has been listed in Schedule 4 to the University’s “Policy on Research”. The current overhead charges level is fixed at :

Contract Type  Overhead Rate
Contracts where research activities take place on campus  25%
Contracts where research activities take place off campus or are funded by government/public funds/non-profit making organizations  15%


The current overhead charges level for research contracts to be entered by SZRI or FITRI :

Contract Type Overhead Rate 
Government funded contract  5%
Private research service contract  10%
Private training service contract  13%


In applicable cases, waiver or reduction of overhead charges can only be approved by AAPC via the recommendation of Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research and Bursar and Director of Finance. The application with justifications made by PI shall be submitted via ORKTS Contracts Team.