Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Units (CESU)

The Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Units (CESU) Network is a national consortium of federal and non-federal organizations working together to provide research, technical assistance, and education to federal land management, environmental, and research agencies and their partners in a variety of disciplines.

There are 17 CESUs across the country and the University of Florida is a member of 3, which are Gulf Coast, Piedmont-South Atlantic Coast, and South Florida-Caribbean. Each CESU has its own master agreement that is signed by all members. The sponsor guidelines outline if the proposal can be submitted under a CESU, and the work funded under these agreements are limited to 17.5% indirect costs.

NOTE: While the CESU master agreements do not specify an indirect cost base, UF consistently applies an MTDC base to funding issued under CESU agreements according to the US Department of Interior (DOI) policy DOI-AAAP-0007. This policy states that the same base identified in the recipient’s negotiated indirect cost rate agreement must be used for deviations to the federally negotiated indirect cost rate.  Therefore, the MTDC base should be applied to all work funded under the CESU master agreements outlined above.

Cooperative Fish & Wildlife Unit Program

A cooperative master agreement was established between the University of Florida and several federal and state agencies to conduct research into the ecology, biology and management of fish, wildlife and their habitats, and restoration of such resources. UF’s current master agreement specifies that Research Work Orders (RWOs) funded under the agreement must limit indirect costs to 15% of Total Direct Costs. Typically, the sponsor guidelines outline if the proposal can be submitted under this program.