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Recently a friend of mine who was a professor died and I am hoping to help create a post-doctoral fellowship at the university to carry on the work of his small laboratory in conjunction with others who knew him. I am hoping to understand better the typical way that fellowships are endowed.

According to my initial calculations, it would seem we need about $4 million to endow the fellowship, so that assuming a 4% return on bonds in the foundation, every year we could disburse 2.5% ($70,000 stipend to the fellow, $25,000 upkeep fee to the university, and $5,000 for lab expenses) and retain 1.5% to build the capital of the endowment to account for inflation.

Is this a typical setup for an endowed fellowship in the current academic environment?

jakebeal
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Tyler Durden
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    Related: https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/103525/donating-money-to-scientific-research-after-my-death – silvado Feb 26 '18 at 11:52
  • Also, the university will surely have its own policies on how much capital is needed, stipend amounts, amount demanded for "overhead", how much interest can be drawn per year, and so on. They might demand that the endowment also pay tuition for the student. I'd think your first conversation should be with them. – Nate Eldredge Feb 26 '18 at 14:58
  • @NateEldredge This is for a post-doctoral fellow, I will update the question. – Tyler Durden Feb 26 '18 at 15:42
  • Even for a postdoc -- where in the country are you that would pay a postdoc $70K? – phimac Feb 26 '18 at 15:46
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    @phimac although high, depending upon the the field, it may be appropriate. For example, Sandia National Lab's Truman postdoctoral fellowship pays $111,200 per year. – Richard Erickson Feb 26 '18 at 16:10
  • @phimac The employer's costs for an employee are more than just salary. They will include things like health insurance, pension contributions, other benefits, employer's tax contributions (in some countries), etc. – Wandering Chemist Feb 26 '18 at 18:31
  • Approach the Gifts department at the university in question. I would note that many endowments do better than a 4% return, so you may be able to fund multiple positions for $4 million. – Jon Custer Feb 27 '18 at 00:45

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My answer assumes the US university system, based on your stated location

Endowed funds (for positions or otherwise) are quite common at universities, so every University has an "Endowments Office" or "Office of Giving" or the like, which will most happily sit down with you to work out these sorts of details.

You will definitely need to sit down with that office to determine the details, however, because it will likely be different for every university. Factors influencing these details will likely include: public vs. private, overhead rates and structure, how the university manages its endowments, state and local tax laws, etc.

In short: get the university's experts involved. The sorts of sums that you are considering will certainly get their attention.

jakebeal
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