Cycle 4 funding: uncertainties, masks, quantities, other types of arrays (Marten)

[aaryapatil]

Issue to track progress of Cycle 4 funding request which was approved in PR#380.

Project Description
Awarded Amount: $54,000.00 (US)
Period of Performance: 2024-05-01 through 2025-04-31 (TBD)
Finance Committee Contact: @aaryapatil
COTR: TBD

[AnaGabela]

Hey Marten,
Let's get you started on getting a new contract with NumFocus because I think that's gonna take them a little while. Here are the instructions:

Go to https://numfocus.org/rocket
Click on Independent Contractor Registration
Form fields
Project: Astropy
Grant: NASA
Full Name
Email address
Street Address
Street Address
City
State
Postal Code
Country
Start Date: 2024-05-01 through 2025-04-31
Description: uncertainties, masks, quantities, other types of arrays
Project Contact name: Astropy Finance Committee
Project Contact email: finance@astropy.org
Payment method: ACH, Wire Transfer, PayPal
Bank Information
Comments about payment
Upload W9 or W8
Please let me know that you have submitted the form so we can keep track of it.

[mhvk]

@AnaGabela - thanks, I'm so happy to hear this worked. In the meantime, I've set the wheels in motion to officially reduce my workload at the university of toronto, and will get myself registered soon!

[mhvk]

@AnaGabela - sorry for the delay, I've now submitted the relevant information to numfocus. If I understand correctly, just listing that I'm in Canada should ensure no taxes have to be withheld - would be nice to have that confirmed!

Maybe more importantly: I moved the start date to July 1st, to align it with the UofT academic year (and because I will not have much time before that date). I hope that is not a problem.

[AnaGabela]

@mhvk- no problem
For the taxes thing all should be ok as long as you send them a W-8Ben (not a W-9)
The start date change is find the only thing is the end date can't change as we need those funds spent to close out the grants.
Let me know if you have any other question

[mhvk]

Thanks! For the time, I think the money is for a total number of hours, right, so it will just mean I'll spend a bit more time per week before April 30, 2025.

[mhvk]

@AnaGabela - sorry for another question: my university's admin people have looked into various options, and there are two: I work a reduced load (with reduced pay, benefits, pension) and get compensated for that directly by numfocus, or I get "bought out", i.e., the university of toronto bills numfocus for my time (with zero impact on my pay, benefits, pension). We've started on the former route, but for me the latter would be nicer in that I just don't have to worry about changing how I do my taxes, worry about pensions, etc. Is being billed by the university possible from the numfocus side? (Note: the cost will definitely not be any higher)

[AnaGabela]

@mhvk I think that will work. Instead of submitting invoices to Open Collective, UToronto will. I think that’s still a Independent Contractor form but it’s with U Toronto rather than Marten. So UToronto needs to register with the steps above... let me know how it goes so I can track it (angabela@gmail.com)

[mhvk]

Thanks, that sounds like something that is either going to be very easy (UofT has done it before), or very difficult (they have not, and US tax forms are impossible). I'll ask!

[AnaGabela]

For taxes.. it should be form W8Ben and that is simple.. of course being a university maybe not... but that would be the form to start with when they get to that step.

[mhvk]

I have asked the administration people about this. I think UofT surely has had more faculty receiving US funding, so hopefully they know what to do. In the worst case, it will still have to go to me directly.

[mhvk]

@AnaGabela - UofT seems to expect some form of MoU. That seems reasonable, but I don't know at all if that is possible with NumFocus - is it? (Or if you don't know, do you know who to ask?)

[mhvk]

For a MoU, I seem to need the address, e-mail address of the responsible people at NumFocus. Or does this all go through you?

Note that @kelle in earlier discussion wrote that she had had a contract via Barnard (I think); the difference would be that UofT apparently does not charge overhead.

[kelle]

In order to start this process, y'all (probably someone at UofT) should complete the ICA registration form.  It asks for the payment details -- how does UofT want to get paid?

If it turns out an MoU makes more sense instead of a "contract", that's between UofT and the NumFocus folks. Completing the ICA registration from starts this whole process.

[mhvk]

@kelle - do you mean the Independent Contractor Registration on https://numfocus.org/rocket? Is there someone specific on the numfocus side that my department administrator can contact? Likely easier without us in the middle!

[kelle]

Let me chat with the NumFOCUS folks and get back to you.