Biostatistics Analysis Center Support for Funded Federal, Foundation and Industry Sponsored Projects
Investigators of newly funded or ongoing funded projects with a prior BAC budget should contact the BECC/BAC Managing Director via e-mail or phone. She will work with individual investigators to assemble a BAC project team and initiate the collaboration.
Overview
There are 3 options for structuring newly funded or ongoing funded projects without a prior BAC budget. They are: 1) a short term consultation, 2) a fixed percent effort contract and 3) a task based (fixed price) contract. Selecting the best option for you is based on project scope and your preference.
Short-term consultations are best for short, well defined questions with relatively small datasets; charges are made per hour, based on the numbers of hours spent on the project. Most grant- or contract-funded projects do not include such tasks; however, sometimes there are pilot studies, interim analyses or small tasks nested within the larger study that the BAC can easily support on a short-term basis. BAC fees are $75 per hour for support from a staff biostatistician and $50 per hour for support from a member of the BAC programming team.
In most cases, BAC support for funded federal, foundation, or industry sponsored projects will be structured as a mid- to long-term project and will involve establishing either fixed percent or fixed price contracts. With a fixed percent structure, the BAC will make staff available for a fixed percent of time. For example, 20% effort would be the equivalent of roughly 1 day/week or 4 to 5 days/month. This arrangement requires that the investigator take responsibility for consistently using the available time since the costs for percent effort are charged on a monthly basis with the assumption that the effort is being utilized. Upward or downward adjustments in effort can be made quarterly at the investigator's request.
A task based (fixed price) structure is likely to be the best option for most mid- to long-term projects, as it guarantees that BAC tasks will be completed with a priori determination of the costs. With this approach, a Scope of Work is defined by the BAC Managing Director and/or Budget Manager in conjunction with the investigator. The BAC then takes responsibility for completing the set of tasks laid out in the Scope of Work. Changes can be made to the project scope with corresponding changes to the budget. The reverse, making changes first to the budget and adjusting project scope, is also an option.
Getting Started
If you have not yet initiated a request for BAC assistance, please complete the BECC Collaboration Request Form. The BECC Triage Manager will contact you within 3 business days to arrange a time to discuss your requirements in more detail. She will be able to offer a rough estimate of the time required to complete the analysis upon reviewing the data and understanding the analyses. There is no charge for your initial meeting with the BECC Triage Manager.
We encourage you to review our tips for working effectively with the BAC before or during your first meeting with the BAC staff member(s) assigned to work with you.
