At my university when you look at it as a whole, we barely break even on indirects.
While there is a lot of need to have a conversation about how the system currently functions, I'd suggest cutting indirects completely as step one is akin to suggesting flooding the room with carbon monoxide until we can sort out that nasty cough you have.
Why doesn’t the university apply for indirects via a separate grant?
It seems weird to tuck it into the research grants. More professors with a research grant do not automatically translate to more indirect costs (e.g. the building has to be cleaned, whether a room is occupied or not)
It is at least intended to reflect the cost of the grant. The building might need to be cleaned, but one could expect things like the library, a laboratory, support folks in IT and grant administration, the IRB, etc. to go up.
While there is a lot of need to have a conversation about how the system currently functions, I'd suggest cutting indirects completely as step one is akin to suggesting flooding the room with carbon monoxide until we can sort out that nasty cough you have.