alt Hacker NewsI would love to see a breakdown of what overhead is going to pay for that "most advanced facilities/equipment" and what is paying for the assistant to the assistant vice provost to hire a new assistant.
As someone who interacts with R1 research institutions as an adjunct and a prime contractor hiring professors as subs, they are far from efficient (like any large organization). My issue is that the people who are producing the actual value are paid and treated pretty poorly generally, and treated as cattle specifically by people whose contributions to anything of substance are extremely unclear but are quite well paid.
Agreed, totally a discussion worth having there. But you kinda point to my assumption on this: "like any large organization."
I'm doubtful that the organizations at the top end of the list are 4x more bureaucratically bloated than those at the bottom end of it.
I'm highly confident that much more sophisticated research has much higher indirect cost, because a defining characteristic of "sophisticated research" is that it entails exquisite facilities and equipment that cannot possibly be paid for under individual studies.
Another thing I'm confident of is that Harvard et al have much more talented negotiators than the smaller schools, and I'm sure that plays a role. I would be surprised if it explains the bulk of the discrepancy.