I wonder if it is even ethical to enlist affiliation to the university if my funding comes directly from a funding institute, I'm buying and using my own hardware and software (down to the HDMI cable and mouse), and the data is also coming directly from another organization. The coffee and food is also off my own pocket.
The only things they provide are electricity (computer, coffee), water (coffee), and internet.
@Mehrad@academicchatter are you managing the research funding account? Did you get support in grant writing? Do you get post-grant award support? Are you going to pay open-access publishing costs? What about office space?