With all the news coming from NIH and HHS, the angst about proposed cuts to “indirects” has quieted some. NIH indirects have been referred to as critical to the entirety of American research and the facilities that require upkeep and lighting. Individual scientific studies have direct costs that are specific to the proposed research (supplies for experiments, investigator and staff/technician salaries, etc.). Indirect funds help support all of this, and the university is subject to government audit of both direct and indirect expenditures. Thus, those who are funded at any moment help sustain the general infrastructure with their indirect funds.