The first Canadian retailer I checked out quoted me $399, but I'm waiting to hear back from others.
He works for the
"Dynamic Graphics Project", so yes, it would be legitimate research. They do cool stuff with cool things like projectors, cell phone technology, touch screen technology, etc... etc... so that tons of cool toys come through here, but it's really research related. But it's a double-edged sword: even more documentation is required to prove that that it is: if I were an auditor and looked at a purchase for a pocket projector, I'd think
"damn, this is a cool toy!" I wouldn't automatically think
"wow, this is unequivocally clearly a product for research!" Errrr
I liked my response. Snippy, but not. Yes, wow, yes: auditors DO check. Internal ones do it annually; external periodically; NSERC does so every 4 years. When they do conduct an audit, they pick out particular expenditures, and check to see that they meet their criteria for spending:
NSERC:
http://www.nserc.gc.ca/pr...rofnav&lbi=p_toc
UofT's Reimbursable Expenses:
http://www.finance.utoron...ravel/policy.htm
UofT's Faculty Allowance (EXP-UTFA accounts):
http://www.hrandequity.ut.../faclib/pera.htm
Grant rules supersede the university's. Where the fund source has no policy, the university's policy is used.
Audits are regular. Public institutions, such as is UofT post all of their financial information online. As much as possible is done to ensure that everything is reliable, AND transparent ... to the point where it's inefficient, but whatever. We're
"reliable" and
"transparent". Efficiency remains an ideal of the corporate world.
They do not take advantage. As soon as a grant is used to purchase one of these products, it becomes property of the institution (i.e. the university), and all university inventory is tracked.
