budget allocation for research proposal

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• v.10(2); Apr-Jun 2019

How to plan and write a budget for research grant proposal?

Medical research can have an enormous positive impact on human health. Health research improves the quality of human lives and society which plays a vital role in social and economic development of the nation. Financial support is crucial for research. However, winning a research grant is a difficult task. A successful grant-winning application requires two key elements: one is an innovative research problem with best probable idea/plan for tackling it and appropriate planning of budget. The aim of the present paper is to give an insight on funding agencies providing funding for health research including traditional Indian medicine (from an Indian perspective) and key points for planning and writing budget section of a grant application.

1. Introduction

Why health science research is important and why should it to be funded? Science and technology innovations and health research can have an enormous impact on human health. They improve public health, quality of human lives, longevity and have made society better [1] , [2] . Healthy humans with better quality of life are crucial for the social and economical development of the nation [3] . Medical research led to the expansion of knowledge about health problems/conditions and their mechanism, risk factors, outcomes of treatments or interventions, preventive measures and proper management. Clinical studies or trials provide important information about the safety and efficacy of a drug/intervention. Innovative basic science research had led to the discovery of new technology, efficient diagnostic and therapeutic devices. So, currently, an effort with multidisciplinary approach is a demand for better understanding of clinical conditions and providing safest health care to the community [2] , [4] .

Whether it is basic or applied, clinical or non-clinical, all research needs financial support. Considering the importance of research in economic growth of a nation, many countries are increasing their budget for research and development in science. A study on impact of GDP (Gross Domestic Product) on research and development in science among Asian countries has found that one who spends more on research has more research outcomes in the form of total number of research documents, citations per documents and h-index [5] . About 95% of the NIH (National Institutes of Health, USA), budget goes directly to research awards, programs, and centers; training programs; and research and development contracts [6] . Total expenditure carried out for research in India is too less than USA and China. Percentage of GDP for research and development in India is 0.88%, while South Korea, USA and China have 4.292%, 2.742 and 2.1% respectively [7] .

Owing to the increasing competition among the researchers, especially the young ones, for their academic growth, preparing and planning a winning research proposal becomes very essential. A successful grant-winning application requires two key elements: (1) innovative research problem with best probable idea/plan for tackling it and (2) appropriate planning of budget. The aim of the present paper is to give an insight on funding agencies (from an Indian perspective) and key points for planning and writing budget section of a grant application.

2. What is the purpose of the budget plan in a grant application?

A budget is the quantitative expression of a financial plan for future expenses on the project in a given period of time [8] . Budget plan is a key element of a grant application. It demonstrates the required cost for the proposed project. It is a prediction of expenses and serves a plan for funders on how the organization will operate the project, spend the money in a given set of period and where their money will go. It shows the funders exactly what they can support and also helps the institution and investigating team in management of the project. Moreover, budget plan requires for accountability [9] .

3. Which are the funding agencies that sponsor health research in India?

Various national and international sponsoring agencies have identified health problems of priority for funding a research. Some of the leading funding agencies providing grant for health research including alternative systems of medicine in India are given in Table 1 . State Universities/deemed Universities also have a provision of funding for medical research.

Table 1

List of funding agencies those promote health research.

4. What constitutes a research project budget?

Proforma of the research grant applications and presentation of budget section may vary among the sponsoring agencies. However, major parts of budget plan in the applications of the above mentioned funding agencies are quite similar. The budget section is broadly divided into two categories: direct and indirect costs.

4.1. Direct costs:

These are the costs incurred specifically to carry out a project [10] . Direct costs include expenses towards personnel, materials, equipments, consumables and travel. These particulars are further categorized into recurring and non-recurring expenses on the basis of their occurrence during the study period. A brief description of the sub-sections under direct cost is given below:

4.1.1. Personnel:

Budget for personnel can be mentioned in this section in case human resources are required for the study and as per funding agency guidelines. Salaries with allowances can be budgeted for human resources such as site manager, research assistant, junior research fellow (JRF), senior research fellow (SRF), research associate, technician, data entry operator and attender. Most of the Indian funding agencies do not have a provision for salaries for the principal investigator (PI) and co-investigators (Co-PI). Ministry of AYUSH [11] and Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Science (RGUHS), Karnataka [12] provide one-time minimal fees for investigators and supporting staff respectively. There is a provision for salaries of investigators in Wellcome trust-DBT India alliance grants [13] .

4.1.2. Recurring expenses:

Recurring expenses are those which are variable and which keep on occurring throughout the entire project duration. Particulars categorized in this category are consumables, chemicals, glasswares, laboratory test charges, diagnostic kits, stationery, prints, photocopies, communication, postage, telephone charges, survey tools, questionnaires, publication charges, reprints, binding etc. Other expenses could be allowances for patients/participants, food charges and physician fees.

4.1.3. Non-recurring expenses:

Non-recurring expenses are those which are one-time in nature or which do not recur at regular intervals. Particulars included in this category are equipments or instruments with its accessories, software's, computer, printer, electrical and electronic items and accessories of the existing instrument in your lab. Percentage of budget allocated for equipment varies among the funding agencies from 25% to 90% of the entire budget. Some of the agencies do not have provision for equipment in budget. Vision Group on Science and Technology allocated their maximum grant (up to 90%) for development of infrastructure of laboratories [14] .

4.1.4. Traveling expenses:

Budget allocated for traveling can be used for attending meetings, conferences, workshops and training programs. Foreign travel is not allowed by any Indian funding agency. Traveling expenses for collection of data, survey and visit to other centers in multicentric study can be budgeted in this sub-section.

4.2. Indirect costs:

These are the costs which cannot be directly attributed to specific expenses of a project, but are required to run a project. It is also termed as overhead charges. Laboratory, electricity, water, library and other facilities are provided by the institution to run a proposed research project. Therefore, a fixed cost (usually) of about 5–15% of the total budget is provisioned as institutional overhead charges which goes to the institution directly. The range may, however, be flexible on the basis of the type of funding agency.

5. Budget justification

Most of the funding agencies require submission of a budget justification with all the items described above. Sometimes it is also called as budget narrative. Explanation of need for each line item in the budget with item-wise and year-wise breakdown has to be provided. Quantification of total costs of each line-item and document cost calculation should be done. When writing a budget justification, it is important to follow the same order as that in an itemized budget. For example, if equipment such as color doppler is required, then justify the need of a device with respect to the proposed methodology of the study. Similarly, for non-recurring expenses, breakdown the consumables item-wise and year-wise with its cost and calculation according to the protocol of the study and justify accordingly.

6. Budget summary

An item-wise and year wise summary of the total budget is usually required in most of the applications. Budget summary outlines the proposed grant and often (most of the format) appears at the beginning of the proposal. It should always be prepared at the end, after the grant proposal has been completely developed. A sample budget summary (as an example) for a proposed study for the duration of three years is shown in Table 2 . In the personnel section, a research fellow salary with allowances is budgeted year-wise. The salary of the research fellow for the first and second year is Rs. 2,30,000 per year (JRF) with an enhancement to Rs 2, 59,000 for the third year (SRF) as per the guidelines of the funding agency. As non-recurring expenses are one time in nature, a budget for equipment was budgeted only for the first year. Under the section of recurring expenses, more budgets are allocated in the second year for consumables because recruitment of subjects in large number will be done during the second year of the proposed study. Similarly, expenses toward travel, investigator fee and other miscellaneous costs year-wise have been budgeted. The emoluments and guidelines on service conditions for research personnel employed in research project by ICMR has been given in reference section [15] , [16] .

Table 2

Sample budget summary (year wise).

7. How to plan a simple research budget?

Planning of the research budget begins with an innovative research question, objectives and design of the study. Before starting to write a budget plan, it is essential to understand the expectations of funding agencies, University/Institute and the team of researchers. It is imperative to keep in mind that the research proposal will be reviewed by both scientific and financial (non-scientific) experts. Hence, the proposal should be prepared in such a way that it can be easily understood by even non-scientific experts.

Firstly, a list of what is essential and would add value for research such as focus of research, primary and secondary outcomes of the study, the source of the sample, study setting, sample design and sample size, techniques used to collect data, method of data analysis and available resources should be made [17] .

Secondly, the instructions, format of the application and rules of the funding agency should be read thoroughly. Budget specifications, limitations of recurring and non-recurring costs, and necessity of budget justification with cost breakdown should be checked. Note that one should not deviate or modify the proforma of the funding agency.

Thirdly, a list of items should be made and categorized into recurring and non-recurring expenses. Breakdown of the budget into item-wise and year-wise with cost calculation should be done. It should be ensured that costs are reasonable, allowable and related to the research proposal, so that the budget appears realistic. Travel expenses should be calculated as per the rules of the funding agency.

Fourthly, item-wise and year-wise justification of the requirement in a same sequence of format should be provided. A well-justified budget can enhance the evaluation of the research proposal by reviewers and funding body.

The last most important part is to review the budget and verify the costs and calculation. It is better, if other research team members can review the budget plan and re-calculate the costs thoroughly. Remember, too high budget and too low budget with respect to the research proposal are suspicious and chances of receiving a grant are less.

Sources of funding

Conflict of interest.

Peer review under responsibility of Transdisciplinary University, Bangalore.

The Research Whisperer

Just like the thesis whisperer – but with more money, how to make a simple research budget.

Every research project needs a budget*.

If you are applying for funding, you must say what you are planning to spend that funding on. More than that, you need to show how spending that money will help you to answer your research question .

So, developing the budget is the perfect time to plan your project clearly . A good budget shows the assessors that you have thought about your research in detail and, if it is done well, it can serve as a great, convincing overview of the project.

Here are five steps to create a simple budget for your research project.

1. List your activities

Make a list of everything that you plan to do in the project, and who is going to do it.

Take your methodology and turn it into a step-by-step plan. Have you said that you will interview 50 people? Write it on your list.

Are you performing statistical analysis on your sample?  Write it down.

Think through the implications of what you are going to do. Do you need to use a Thingatron? Note down that you will need to buy it, install it, and commission it.

What about travel? Write down each trip separately. Be specific. You can’t just go to ‘South East Asia’ to do fieldwork. You need to go to Kuala Lumpur to interview X number of people over Y weeks, then the same again for Singapore and Jakarta.

Your budget list might look like this:

• I’m going to do 10 interviews in Kuala Lumpur; 10 interviews in Singapore; 10 interviews in Jakarta by me.
• I’ll need teaching release for three months for fieldwork.
• I’ll need Flights to KL, Singapore, Jakarta and back to Melbourne.
• I’ll need Accommodation for a month in each place, plus per diem.
• The transcription service will transcribe the 30 interviews.
• I’ll analysis the transcribed results. (No teaching release required – I’ll do it in my meagre research time allowance.)
• I’ll need a Thingatron X32C to do the trials.
• Thing Inc will need to install the Thingatron. (I wonder how long that will take.)
• The research assistant will do three trials a month with the Thingatron.
• I’ll need to hire a research assistant (1 day per week for a year at Level B1.)
• The research assistant will do the statistical analysis of the Thingatron results.
• I’ll do the writing up in my research allowance time.

By the end, you should feel like you have thought through the entire project in detail. You should be able to walk someone else through the project, so grab a critical friend and read the list to them. If they ask questions, write down the answers.

This will help you to get to the level of specificity you need for the next step.

2. Check the rules again

You’ve already read the funding rules, right? If not, go and read them now – I’ll wait right here until you get back.

Once you’ve listed everything you want to do, go back and read the specific rules for budgets again. What is and isn’t allowed? The funding scheme won’t pay for equipment – you’ll need to fund your Thingatron from somewhere else. Cross it off.

Some schemes won’t fund people. Others won’t fund travel. It is important to know what you need for your project. It is just as important to know what you can include in the application that you are writing right now.

Most funding schemes won’t fund infrastructure (like building costs) and other things that aren’t directly related to the project. Some will, though. If they do, you should include overheads (i.e. the general costs that your organisation needs to keep running). This includes the cost of basics like power and lighting; desks and chairs; and cleaners and security staff. It also includes service areas like the university library. Ask your finance officer for help with this. Often, it is a percentage of the overall cost of the project.

If you are hiring people, don’t forget to use the right salary rate and include salary on-costs. These are the extra costs that an organisation has to pay for an employee, but that doesn’t appear in their pay check. This might include things like superannuation, leave loading, insurance, and payroll tax. Once again, your finance officer can help with this.

Your budget list might now look like this:

• 10 interviews in Kuala Lumpur; 10 interviews in Singapore; 10 interviews in Jakarta by me.
• Teaching release for three months for fieldwork.
• Flights to KL, Singapore, Jakarta and back to Melbourne.
• Accommodation for a month in each place, plus per diem, plus travel insurance (rule 3F).
• Transcription of 30 interviews, by the transcription service.
• Analysis of transcribed results, by me. No teaching release required.
• Purchase and install Thingatron X32C, by Thing Inc . Not allowed by rule 3C . Organise access to Thingatron via partner organistion – this is an in-kind contribution to the project.
• Three trials a month with Thingatron, by research assistant.
• Statistical analysis of Thingatron results, by research assistant.
• Research assistant: 1 day per week for a year at Level B1, plus 25.91% salary on-costs.
• Overheads at 125% of total cash request, as per rule 3H.

3. Cost each item

For each item on your list, find a reasonable cost for it . Are you going to interview the fifty people and do the statistical analysis yourself? If so, do you need time release from teaching? How much time? What is your salary for that period of time, or how much will it cost to hire a replacement? Don’t forget any hidden costs, like salary on-costs.

If you aren’t going to do the work yourself, work out how long you need a research assistant for. Be realistic. Work out what level you want to employ them at, and find out how much that costs.

How much is your Thingatron going to cost? Sometimes, you can just look that stuff up on the web. Other times, you’ll need to ring a supplier, particularly if there are delivery and installation costs.

Jump on a travel website and find reasonable costs for travel to Kuala Lumpur and the other places. Find accommodation costs for the period that you are planning to stay, and work out living expenses. Your university, or your government, may have per diem rates for travel like this.

Make a note of where you got each of your estimates from. This will be handy later, when you write the budget justification.

• 10 interviews in Kuala Lumpur; 10 interviews in Singapore; 10 interviews in Jakarta by me (see below for travel costs).
• Teaching release for three months for fieldwork = $25,342 – advice from finance officer.
• Flights to KL ($775), Singapore ($564), Jakarta ($726), Melbourne ($535) – Blue Sky airlines, return economy.
• Accommodation for a month in each place (KL: $3,500; Sing: $4,245; Jak: $2,750 – long stay, three star accommodation as per TripAdviser).
• Per diem for three months (60 days x $125 per day – University travel rules).
• Travel insurance (rule 3F): $145 – University travel insurance calculator .
• Transcription of 30 interviews, by the transcription service: 30 interviews x 60 minutes per interview x $2.75 per minute – Quote from transcription service, accented voices rate.
• Analysis of transcribed results, by me. No teaching release required. (In-kind contribution of university worth $2,112 for one week of my time – advice from finance officer ).
• Purchase and install Thingatron X32C, by Thing Inc . Not allowed by rule 3C. Organise access to Thingatron via partner organistion – this is an in-kind contribution to the project. ($2,435 in-kind – quote from partner organisation, at ‘favoured client’ rate.)
• Research assistant: 1 day per week for a year at Level B1, plus 25.91% salary on-costs. $12,456 – advice from finance officer.

Things are getting messy, but the next step will tidy it up.

4. Put it in a spreadsheet

Some people work naturally in spreadsheets (like Excel). Others don’t. If you don’t like Excel, tough. You are going to be doing research budgets for the rest of your research life.

When you are working with budgets, a spreadsheet is the right tool for the job, so learn to use it! Learn enough to construct a simple budget – adding things up and multiplying things together will get you through most of it. Go and do a course if you have to.

For a start, your spreadsheet will multiply things like 7 days in Kuala Lumpur at $89.52 per day, and it will also add up all of your sub-totals for you.

If your budget doesn’t add up properly (because, for example, you constructed it as a table in Word), two things will happen. First, you will look foolish. Secondly, and more importantly, people will lose confidence in all your other numbers, too. If your total is wrong, they will start to question the validity of the rest of your budget. You don’t want that.

If you are shy of maths, then Excel is your friend. It will do most of the heavy lifting for you.

For this exercise, the trick is to put each number on a new line. Here is how it might look.

5. Justify it

Accompanying every budget is a budget justification. For each item in your budget, you need to answer two questions:

• Why do you need this money?
• Where did you get your figures from?

The budget justification links your budget to your project plan and back again. Everything item in your budget should be listed in your budget justification, so take the list from your budget and paste it into your budget justification.

For each item, give a short paragraph that says why you need it. Refer back to the project plan and expand on what is there. For example, if you have listed a research assistant in your application, this is a perfect opportunity to say what the research assistant will be doing.

Also, for each item, show where you got your figures from. For a research assistant, this might mean talking about the level of responsibility required, so people can understand why you chose the salary level. For a flight, it might be as easy as saying: “Blue Sky airlines economy return flight.”

Here is an example for just one aspect of the budget:

Fieldwork: Kuala Lumpur

Past experience has shown that one month allows enough time to refine and localise interview questions with research partners at University of Malaya, test interview instrument, recruit participants, conduct ten x one-hour interviews with field notes. In addition, the novel methodology will be presented at CONF2015, to be held in Malaysia in February 2015.

Melbourne – Kuala Lumpur economy airfare is based on current Blue Sky Airlines rates. Note that airfares have been kept to a minimum by travelling from country to country, rather than returning to Australia.

1 month accommodation is based on three star, long stay accommodation rates provided by TripAdvisor.

30 days per diem rate is based on standard university rates for South-East Asia.

Pro tip: Use the same nomenclature everywhere. If you list a Thingatron X32C in your budget, then call it a Thingatron X32C in your budget justification and project plan. In an ideal world, someone should be able to flip from the project plan, to the budget and to the budget justification and back again and always know exactly where they are.

• Project plan: “Doing fieldwork in Malaysia? Whereabouts?” Flips to budget.
• Budget: “A month in Kuala Lumpur – OK. Why a month?” Flips to budget justification.
• Budget justification: “Ah, the field work happens at the same time as the conference. Now I get it. So, what are they presenting at the conference?” Flips back to the project description…

So, there you have it: Make a list; check the rules; cost everything; spreadsheet it; and then justify it. Budget done. Good job, team!

This article builds on several previous articles. I have shamelessly stolen from them.

• Constructing your budget – Jonathan O’Donnell.
• What makes a winning budget ? – Jonathan O’Donnell.
• How NOT to pad your budget – Tseen Khoo.
• Conquer the budget, conquer the project – Tseen Khoo.
• Research on a shoestring – Emily Kothe.
• How to make a simple Gantt chart – Jonathan O’Donnell.

* Actually, there are some grant schemes that give you a fixed amount of money, which I think is a really great idea . However, you will still need to work out what you are going to spend the money on, so you will still need a budget at some stage, even if you don’t need it for the application.

Also in the ‘simple grant’ series:

• How to write a simple research methods section .
• How to make a simple Gantt chart .

Share this:

29 comments.

This has saved my day!

Happy to help, Malba.

Like Liked by 1 person

[…] you be putting in a bid for funding? Are there costs involved, such as travel or equipment costs? Research Whisperer’s post on research budgets may help you […]

I’ve posted a link to this article of Jonathan’s in the Australasian Research Management Society LinkedIn group as well, as I’m sure lots of other people will want to share this.

Thanks, Miriam.

This is great! Humorous way to talk explain a serious subject and could be helpful in designing budgets for outreach grants, as well. Thanks!

Thanks, Jackie

If you are interested, I have another one on how to do a timeline: https://theresearchwhisperer.wordpress.com/2011/09/13/gantt-chart/

[…] really useful information regarding budget development can be found on the Research Whisperer Blog here. Any other thoughts and suggestions are welcome – what are your tips to developing a good […]

[…] it gets you to the level of specificity that you need for a detailed methods section. Similarly, working out a budget for your workshops will force you to be specific about how many people will be attending (venue […]

A friend of mine recently commented by e-mail:

I was interested in your blog “How to make a simple research budget”, particularly the statement: “Think through the implications of what you are going to do. Do you need to use a Thingatron? Note down that you will need to buy it, install it, and commission it.”

From my limited experience so far, I’d think you could add:

“Who else is nearby who might share the costs of the Thingatron? If it’s a big capital outlay, and you’re only going to use it to 34% of it’s capacity, sharing can make the new purchase much easier to justify. But how will this fit into your grant? And then it’s got to be maintained – the little old chap who used to just do all that odd mix of electrickery and persuasion to every machine in the lab got retrenched in the last round. You can run it into the ground. But that means you won’t have a reliable, stable Thingatron all ready to run when you apply for the follow-on grant in two years.”

[…] (For more on this process, take a look at How to Write a Simple Project Budget.) […]

[…] Source: How to make a simple research budget […]

This is such a big help! Thank You!

No worries, Claudine. Happy to help.

Would you like to share the link of the article which was wrote about funding rules? I can’t find it. Many thanks!

Hello there – do you mean this post? https://theresearchwhisperer.wordpress.com/2012/02/14/reading-guidelines

Thank @tseen khoo, very useful tips. I also want to understand more about 3C 3F 3H. What do they stand for? Can you help me find out which posts talk about that. Thank again.

[…] mount up rapidly, even if you are in a remote and developing part of the world. Putting together a half decent budget early on and being aware of funding opportunities can help to avoid financial disaster half way […]

This is so amazing, it really helpful and educative. Happy unread this last week before my proposal was drafted.

Happy to help, Babayomi. Glad you liked it.

really useful! thanks kate

[…] “How to Make a Simple Research Budget,” by Jonathan O’Donnell on The Research Whisperer […]

[…] offering services that ran pretty expensive. until I found this one. It guided me through making a simple budget. The information feels sort of like a university graduate research paper but having analysed […]

[…] Advice on writing research proposals for industry […]

[…] research serves as the bedrock of informed budgeting. Explore the average costs of accommodation, transportation, meals, and activities in your chosen […]

[…] How to make a simple research budget […]

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Learn: Proposal Budgeting

The following materials have been developed to assist with proposal budgeting . You can find other proposal and award learning resources here .

Written materials:

• OR Budget Templates – Webpage of helpful OR budget templates with FAQs, a how-to video, an effort calculator and template descriptions
• Preparing a Proposal Budget Handbook  – Comprehensive 27-page document on preparing a proposal budget
• Proposal Budget Formulas – 8-page summary of formulas with explanations
• Budget Justification Checklist – 1-page budget justification checklist
• Calculating Facilities & Administrative (F&A) Costs  – 1-page summary of eligible direct costs and formulas to calculate F&A costs
• Guidance for submitting proposals/IPFs that involve cost-sharing  – 6-page guidance

Helpful link:

• F&A and Fringe Benefit Rates   – Current Facilities & Administration (indirect cost) rates and employee benefit rates

“How To…” videos:

     Note: if a video doesn’t start on the first try, refresh the video and it should then work. 

• How to Use the OR Budget Templates (length: 27:52)
• Annualizing Salary (length: 1:37)
• Calculating Salary to Charge (length: 1:12)
• Calculating Annualized Effort and Person-Months (length: 4:04)
• “Unlocked” Preparing a Proposal Budget: Basics eCourse – this version will not earn you course credit but allows you to navigate to any section (using the menu on left) to find information you seek.
• Lab Workbook
• Workshop video recording (Zoom) (length: 2 hours) – if video doesn’t start on first try, refresh video and it should then work 
• Workshop video recording (Zoom) (length: 1:42 mins) – if video doesn’t start on first try, refresh video and it should then work
• Proposal Budgeting Formulas – UC Learning Center e-course: Brief tutorial on performing common proposal budget calculations, including annualizing salary and calculating annual effort commitment (length: ~12 mins)
• Preparing a Cost Proposal Budget – 41-page slide presentation from July 23, 2023 Research Administration Workshop
• Proposal Budgeting Basics Workbook – Accompanying 14-page workbook

 Budget FAQs

• A detailed internal budget is strongly encouraged even when not required by the sponsor. This aids the Sponsored Programs Office (SPO) in conducting a detailed and accurate review. This should be uploaded in the Proposal Attachments section. Select the document type of “Budget”. SPO encourages use of the OR Budget Templates .
• Salary is calculated automatically through HR Connect. Salary information will updated to the latest information available in PPS twice per month. If you make changes to this in your Cayuse 424 professional profile, those changes will be overwrote to match the PPS system during the next update.
• For all submissions for SPO review, select the document type of “Budget”. Note that “Budget (UCD Health) should only be selected when submitting an industry-sponsored clinical trial protocol for review by the UC Davis Health Contracts Clinical Trials Contracts Office.
• A note’s access can be limited to unit approvers and administrators. The budget comment box is visible to anyone who has access to the proposal.
• Instructions for entering cost sharing is available in the  Cayuse SP Handbook for PIs, Department C&G Staff and Approvers . All cost sharing commitments must be indicated in a signed letter or email from the committing unit (if internal) or organization (if external) and uploaded in Proposal Attachments.
• DO NOT  use the pair with 424 functionality in SP.  
• Yes. Cayuse SP does accept 0% for the F&A Rate. Enter 0% in the F&A Rate text field the bottom of the F&A Rate pop-up screen and select Change Rate. Do not enter an amount in the relevant Base for F&A field(s). Instead, include that amount in the Sponsor Direct Costs field.

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On this page:

Basic components of a research budget, two models of budget development, other factors affecting your budget.

• Additional Resources

Budgets should provide the sponsor with an accurate assessment of all cost items and cost amounts that are deemed necessary and reasonable to carry out your project. They should be based upon your description or the statement of work. Budget justification provides more in-depth detail and reason for each cost and is often considered by reviewers as a good indicator of the feasibility of the research.

A research budget contains both direct costs and indirect costs (overhead), but the level of detail varies from sponsor to sponsor. The first step in developing a budget is to carefully read the guidelines of the funding opportunity being pursued.

There is no magic formula available for developing a budget but there are some basic steps to follow in order to develop an accurate budget:

• Define project tasks, timelines and milestones and determine the actual resources and costs required to complete these. Consider whether contingencies are needed (and confirm they are eligible expenses).
• Determine the eligible expense categories and maximum amount allowed by the sponsor. Adjust scope of the project to make sure proposed activities fit within the allowance.
• Categorize these costs (e.g., salaries, supplies, equipment…) per year, in some cases by quarter.
• Ensure that project scope and budget match. Include indirect costs of research as permitted by sponsor and the University policy.  

The examples below developed by the University of British Columbia demonstrate two ways to include indirect costs in your budget.

• Price model:  Indirect cost is built into each budget line item.
• Cost model:  Indirect cost of research is presented as a separate line item.

Unless the sponsor specifies in writing that they require the indirect costs of research to be presented as a separate line item (Cost Model), the indirect cost should be built into each budget line item (Price Model). Indirect costs are normally included in the price of goods and services worldwide.

For example, you are developing a budget for a funding opportunity with an indirect cost rate of 25%. Your direct costs are $201,000 broken down by expense categories shown in the  second column of the table below. The third and fourth colums present the two ways you can include the 25% overhead in your budget using the Price Model or the Cost Model, respectively:

In-kind and cash contributions, like other costs to the sponsored project, must be eligible and must be treated in a consistent and uniform manner in proposal preparation and in financial reporting.

Cash contributions

Cash contributions are actual cash transactions that can be documented in the accounting system. Examples of cash contributions include:

• allocation of compensated faculty and staff time to projects, or
• the purchasing of equipment by the university or other eligible sponsor for the benefit of the project.

In-kind contributions

In-kind contributions are both non-monetary or cash equivalent resources that can be given a cash value, such as goods and/or services in support of a research project or proposal. It is challenging to report on in-kind contribution, please make sure the numbers you use are well supported, consistent and easy to quantitate.

Examples of an in-kind contribution may include:

• Access to unique database or information
• Professional, analytical, and other donated services
• Employee salaries including benefits for time allocated to the project
• Study materials, technologies, or components
• Patents and licenses for use
• Use of facilities (e.g., lab or meeting spaces)
• Partner organization time spent participating in the project
• Eligible infrastructure items

Matching on sponsored projects

Some sponsored projects require the university and/or a third party to contribute a portion of the project costs–this contribution is known as matching.

Matching requirements may be in the form of an actual cash expenditure of funds or may be an “in-kind” match. For example:

• A 1:1 match would require $100 of a third-party matching for every $100 received from an agency.
• A 30% match would mean that of a total budget of $100, the agency would provide $70 and a third party would need to match $30.

Examples of agency programs that include some form of matching from a third party are:

• NSERC Collaborative Research and Development Grants
• NSERC Idea to Innovation Grants
• SSHRC Partnership Grants
• CIHR Industry Partnered Collaborative Research Program, and
• CIHR Proof of Principle Grants  

Additional resources

• Current  salary  and  benefit  rates for graduate students and postdocs/research associates
• SFU  Business and Travel Expense  Policy
• Animal care services

Compliance protocols MUST be approved and linked in SeRA to a SPO project record prior to award acceptance. 

Budgets and Budget Justifications

Main navigation.

Proposal budgets and budget justifications are the financial road maps of sponsored projects.  When thoughtfully and strategically built they both help propel proposals to award and pave the way for effective post-award management.  Below are templates and resource links to help you build successful budgets and budget justifications. 

Questions?  Concerns? Contact the  Client Advocacy & Education team .  We're here to help!

• Detailed Budget Template Quick Start Guide
• Detailed Budget Template Reference Guide
• Detailed Budgeting Webinar recording - NSF Example (50 minutes)
• Each recording includes ORA detailed budget template capabilities, best practices for setup and use, and a test case demonstration.

Stanford Sponsored Project Budget Justification Template

• Within the budget and budget justification template an annual cost-of-living increase of 3% is assumed for salaries and a 3% escalation rate is assumed for all other categories except where noted.  These increases have been projected into all years of the budget template and are standard budgeting practice for Stanford sponsored projects.  Users may amend the pre-programmed escalation rate(s) to coincide with current Stanford University Budget Office planning assumptions and/or to reflect recent historical growth in costs.  Please note, the UBO's planning assumptions are used by the University Budget Office for planning purposes only and are subject to change. What may be appropriate at the university level may not be applicable at the school or department levels.

Note: The Simple Budget Template will be retired effective 10/1/24.  We highly recommend alternatively using the above Detailed Budget Template.

• Travel Budgeting Note: Individuals can either  utilize the detailed domestic and foreign travel tabs to develop line level travel budgets within the budget template or they can enter / "hard code" budget period travel total amounts on the Detailed Budget tab.

Links & Notes for Common Budget Categories

Personnel costs.

• OBI Financial Reporting Payroll and Labor Management (PLM) Reports
• Stanford Post doc Funding Guidelines
• ​Graduate Student Assistantship Salary Rates and Tuition Allowances *

Stanford requires a commitment of effort on the part of the PI on all sponsored projects with the following exceptions. This requirement applies even if a sponsor does not require a commitment of effort on the part of the PI and/or does not allow the direct charging of PI salary. PI effort may be expended during the academic year, summer quarter only, or both. 

Note: If a sponsor does not allow the direct charging of PI salary and the project does not meet one of the 3 below PI effort exceptions, PI effort must be cost shared. 

Stanford tracks and manages effort primarily through direct salary charges to sponsored projects, cost sharing salary charges, or a combination of direct charging and cost sharing.

The requirement of PI effort does not extend to:

• Equipment grants
• Seed grants for students/postdocs where the faculty mentor is named as PI, dissertation support, training grants, or other awards intended as "student augmentation “
• Limited-purpose awards characterized by Stanford as Other Sponsored Activities, including travel grants, conference support, etc.

See  RPH 3.1 Preparation and Submission of Proposal Budgets   for more information.

*Graduate Student Research Assistantships

Effective 9/1/23, the University contribution of tuition allowance granted to non-SoM funded Research Assistants increased to 55%, and 45% will be charged to the source funding on sponsored awards that pay Stanford's full facilities & administrative (F&A) cost rates.

• For non-SoM funded Research Assistants on sponsored awards that pay an F&A rate less than Stanford's full facilities & administrative (F&A) cost rates the University contribution of tuition allowance remains 40%, and 60% will continue to be charged to the source funding.
• For SoM funded Research Assistants the University contribution of tuition allowance remains 19%, and 81% will continue to be charged to the source funding.
• See the  Graduate Financial Support Salary & TAL Tables for more information.

Fringe Benefits

• DoResearch- Stanford Rates 
• Faculty members do NOT accrue vacation leave or sick leave. Short absences for personal business, illness, jury duty, military duty, and similarly limited absences normally are with full salary. Under conditions specified in the  Faculty Handbook , sabbatical leave may be granted by a school dean.
• Let’s look at an example:  
• Dr. Cardinal, an ASR, has an annual salary of $120,000 and was budgeted for 100% effort on a federal award in FY24.

• During FY24, Dr. Cardinal works 100% on the federal award as proposed and takes vacation for the half the month of April.  
• Review the below chart to see how Dr. Cardinal's salary, fringe benefits (28.4% for FY24), and vacation accrual (8.9% for FY24) will post to the federal award and the difference between the total incurred amount and that which was budgeted above. 

• When the ASR takes vacation, the award to which their salary is being charged will NOT be charged for the commensurate amount of their salary and benefits.  If the ASR takes all the vacation they accrue while working on a project, the vacation accrual charges and credits will net to zero.  
• IMPORTANT: In practical application, staff working on sponsored projects often take less vacation time than they accrue resulting in sponsored projects incurring the cost of vacation accruals without receiving all the offsetting credits.  When this occurs, incurred personnel costs will exceed budgeted personnel amount.  This will require investigators and award managers to either rebudget from other project budget categories, as available and allowed by the given award's terms and conditions, to cover the additional personnel costs or identify another funding source to support the project costs in excess of those awarded from the sponsor.  If you are constructing or managing a project budget with a significant amount of personnel that accrue vacation, it is highly recommended that you discuss with your investigator the financial implications of vacation accrual costs and devise a proactive management plan.
• For more information on which employees at Stanford accrue vacation and sick leave, review the Stanford Administrative Guide 2.1.6 .
• Oracle Financials -> Stanford iProcurement  - For supply quotes
• OBI Financial Reporting  - For historical supply spending data
• Egencia - Stanford Travel's Online Booking Tool 
• gsa.gov - Per Diem Rates
• When budgeting lodging costs for conference attendance, we recommended, if you can identify from the conference website or other available information what the conference room rate has historically been or will be and if this rate is higher than the gsa.gov lodging rate for the conference location, to budget the conference room rate as opposed to the gsa.gov lodging rate and explain this in the associated budget justification.  
• Conversely, when budgeting lodging costs when it is known the lodging costs will be substantially less than the gsa.gov lodging rate for the given location(s), we recommend budgeting the known lower lodging costs and, again, explain this in the associated budget justification.  This is a common occurrence when individuals travel and stay at another institution's or research facility's guesthouse/onsite accommodations.
• Know what qualifies as Capital Equipment and can be counted toward the acquisition cost vs. must be budgeted separately.
• Oracle Financials -> Stanford iProcurement  - For equipment quotes
• California affords partial exemption from sales and use taxes for research and development equipment purchases.  Qualifying purchases must pay the remaining state tax and local and district taxes.
• Fabrications - What they are, and what costs may be counted toward a fabrication vs. those must be budgeted separately.

Facilities & Administrative Cost Rates

• DoResearch- Stanford Rates
• Dean of Research Pre-Approved indirect cost  (IDC) exception list
• Project-specific IDC waiver

• Office of Research
• Sponsored Projects
• Proposal Preparation

Budget Preparation

Your budget is a financial proposal that reflects the work proposed. It outlines the expected project costs in detail, and should mirror the project description. A budget is presented as a categorical list of anticipated project costs that represent the researcher's best estimate of the funds needed to support the proposed work. The term “best estimate” is important here. You will be held to using the costs detailed in your budget, so make sure you’ve correctly estimated what you will need to complete the project.

Reviewers want to know how reasonable the cost of your project is. They will ask themselves whether you are over or underestimating your expenses. A careful review of the budget lets the reviewer know that you're not asking for too much or too little, but rather, just enough funding.

A UCSB Detailed Budget should be prepared for each proposal. This will assist in the completion of any sponsor budget forms and the budget justifcation, as well as assist with sponsor requests for additional details about how you generated your overall figure, or where the money will be going. Remember, all budgets are to be prepared in accordance with the  Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Uniform Guidance  (the UG) and the  UC Santa Barbara Departmental Costing Guidelines .

For proposals to State of California agencies , in addition to the information contained below, please see our  State of California Proposal Guidance page for forms, instructions and indirect cost information specific to State proposals.

Preparing Your Budget

Direct costs.

Salaries and Wages

The budget category Salaries and Wages is designed to account for UCSB employees only. Non-UCSB employees will be listed on their appropriate subaward or MCA budget, as consultant costs, or as contracts for services. To assist in determining the appropriate role an individual or entity should have on a project, see the  Who's Who on my Sponsored Project  guide.

In the Salaries and Wages category ,  you should include the individual's name, University payroll title, annual or monthly salary, number of months or percentage of time on project, and the total salary requested for each person listed. Always note that the summer salary for faculty is "1/9 annual salary," as many sponsors question how summer salary is calculated.

If you know the specific person who will be working on a project, you should use their actual salary. When an actual salary rate is used, it must be must be indicated as such in the proposal budget. For academic appointments, if an individual's salary is above-scale or off-scale, indicate such on the budget. Remember: Off-scale means appointed at a specific on-scale level, but the salary is above that level, while above-scale means appointed at a salary that is above the highest possible level for that title.

If an individual is not yet identified, list as "TBN" (to be named) with the appropriate salary from the approved salary scales. Remember to consult the bargaining unit contract for covered academic and staff tittles.

• UCSB Academic Personnel Salary Scales
• UCSB Human Resources Staff Salary Scales

Remember that departmental approval is required for any faculty release time included in a proposal budget.

Clerical or administrative salaries and wages should normally be treated as indirect costs.  However, such costs are allowable as direct costs if the four criteria in the  UG § 200.413(c)  are satisfied. To be included, such costs must be specifically justified in the proposal and in accordance with the  Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Uniform Guidance  (the UG).

Note for NSF proposals only:  The definition of “year” is required to be included in the budget justification when you are requesting salary for Senior Personnel. See  NSF 18-1 PAPPG Section II.C.2.g.i(a) . When applicable, include the following statement, "UCSB defines 'year' as the fiscal year than spans from July 1 to June 30 each calendar year", in the section of the budget justification where you are justifying the salary request(s).  (updated 2/7/18)

Escalation Rates for Salaries and Wages   (updated 11/07/2017)

Projected merits/promotions should be factored in for all titles.

• For faculty with appointments outside your department, contact their home department staff person in charge of academic merits/promotions to get the current pay rate, rank, and next scheduled merit. Academic salary range adjustments are projected to increase by 2%.
• Graduate Student Researcher (GSR) salaries are projected to increase 3% each year.
• Staff salaries for merit-based plans are projected to increase by 3.5% on July 1 of each year (there are no separate calculations for cost-of-living and merit).
• Minimum wage increases should be budgeted in accordance with the  UC Fair Wage/Fair Work Plan  and/or state minimum wage requirements, as appropriate.

Fringe Benefits (updated 06/25/2024)

UCSB is implementing Composite Benefit Rates (CBR) beginning September 1, 2018. On and after this date, benefits charged to all fund sources will be based on CBR, not an employee’s actual benefit costs. CBRs are used to simplify the budgeting and standardize the accounting of employee benefits to be predictable and consistent.  All proposals and revised budgets submitted should use CBRs.  

The CBR contains the following costs: Benefits Administration; Medical, Dental, Disability, Life, Unemployment, Vision, and Worker’s Compensation Insurance; Employee Support Programs; FICA and Medicare Taxes; Incentive Award Programs; Retiree Health Benefits; Retirement Benefits; Senior Management Supplemental; PFCB; and Post Doc Childcare. CBR does not include Vacation Leave Assessment, UCRP Supplement Interest Assessment, Tuition remission, Graduate Student Health Insurance, and General, Automotive, and Employee Insurance (GAEL).

CBRs are fixed for an entire fiscal year and will be adjusted annually. As of June 13, 2024 the rates are approved through June 30, 2025 (FY25). 

The CBRs, including projections for future years and rates to use in current proposals, are located on the budget and planning website . Budget and Planning has a CBR website with additional background information on CBR, including a CBR FAQ.

Fringe benefits are listed on the proposal budget as a set percent of salary. Fringe benefits must be budgeted to the same funding source as the corresponding salary (UC C&G Manual  Ch. 7-206 ,  Ch, 2-520 ). The budgeted fringe benefit rate is comprised of up to three different rates, the composite benefit rate (CBR), vacation accrual, and UC Retirement Program (UCRP) interest charge*.

Please note that fringe benefit rates for some academic titles change in the summer months.

For CBR questions, contact  [email protected] .

*UCRP interest charge is allowable on non-federal fund sources only. It should not be budgeted on federal or federal flow-through funds.

Graduate Student Tuition, Fees, and Health Insurance

Graduate students employed by the University in eligible classifications receive partial or full tuition and fee remission, depending on the percentage of time appointment, from the same fund that pays their salaries. In cases when an eligible graduate student is paid from more than one fund source, the cost of remission should be prorated. Graduate students employed in the title classification  Graduate Student Researcher (GSR)  are among those eligible for remission. Questions regarding eligibility of particular students should be directed to the  UCSB Graduate Division .

Please refer to the UCSB Office of the Registrar's  Summary of Quarterly Fees and Expenses  for the current tuition, fee, and health insurance rates.

Indicate on the budget if tuition, fees and insurance are for an in-state or out-of-state Graduate Student Researcher (GSR).

GSR appointments up to 24% time are not eligible for remission. However, if a GSR has an appointment that is less than full time in your department/unit, make sure they do not have an additional appointment, as eligibility for remission is based on the total percent of all appointments combined on campus.

Partial Remission

GSRs employed between 25% and 34% time (all GSR appointments combined) qualify for partial remission. This includes payment of 100% of the university's mandatory fees: Student Services Fee; Tuition, All Students; and Non-Resident Tuition, Supplemental where approperiate. It also includes payment of Health Insurance. However, partial remission does not currently include the payment of UCSB Campus Based Fees.

Full Remission

GSRs employed at least 35% time or at least 140 hours of a three month quarter (all GSR appointments combined) qualify for full fee and tuition remission. This includes payment of 100% of the university's fees: Student Services Fee; Tuition, All Students; UCSB Campus Based Fees, and Health Insurance. It also includes payment of Non-Resident Tuition, Supplemental for international students, and non-resident domestic students during their first year only.

Non-Resident GSRs who have advanced to candidacy are eligible for a 100% reduction in supplemental tuition for a maximum of three years after the advance to candidacy.

Tuition, Fees, and Health Insurance Escalation Rates   (updated 09/14/2020)

• Tuition, All Students (aka Educational Tuition) is comprised of three elements: Resident Tuition, Student Service Fee and Campus-based Fees.

• Non-Resident Tuition, Supplemental is not estimated to increase.
• Health Insurance (aka GSHIP or UCSHIP) is estimated to increase 8% each academic year.

Sponsored Projects staff use this unofficial GSR Tuition/Fees and UC SHIP Projection Chart  as a tool when reviewing proposals. It may be used by departments to assist in determining the appropriate rates when preparing proposal budgets. It is not intended to replace use of the official rates found on the UCSB Office of the Registrar's  Summary of Quarterly Fees and Expenses  website.

The University defines equipment as articles of non-expendable tangible personal property having a useful life of more than one year, and an acquisition cost of $5,000 or more per unit. Sometimes an agency will have a higher or lower dollar value than UCSB. In this case, UCSB's dollar value takes precedent.

Tax, shipping, and any transit costs should be factored into the cost of the equipment. If the quote is from an out-of-state or foreign supplier California Use Tax should be factored into the cost as well. One exception: Sales tax is not paid on government owned equipment. If the guidelines of a proposal state that any equipment purchased will vest in the government, do not add in sales tax.

Fabrications are generally treated like equipment and excluded from indirect costs under MTDC calculation. However, if an item is fabricated and title title is not retained by the UCSB, all costs of its fabrication are subject to indirect costs. Fabrication costs may include associated labor. Please consult with  UCSB Equipment Management  to confirm that all anticipated fabrication costs are correctly categorized as equipment.

If proposing to purchase a single item or fabrication of equipment budgeted at $100,000 or more, and not submitting to a specific equipment or instrumentation proposal call (such as a DURIP), please contact  BFS Procurement Services  to discuss additional purchasing requirements that may apply. It’s important to note that even if a specific make/model of the equipment is included, federal purchasing procedures may not allow the campus to purchase that specific make/model.

Travel should be broken down into domestic and foreign categories, and as much detail as possible should be provided. Include travel destinations, number of people traveling, number of days traveling, ground and/or air transportation costs, lodging and substanance or per diem, etc. Remember to always check the sponsor guidelines to make sure foreign travel is allowed before including it in a proposal budget.

All travel funded directly or indirectly by the Federal Government must comply with the  Fly America Act .

All state-funded travel must comply with the travel restrictions imposed by Assembly Bill No. 1887. For information, see the  Business and Financial Services website  or the  State Attorney General's website .

See the  UCSB Business & Financial Services travel webpage  and the  UCOP Financial Services & Controls travel policy webpage  for additional travel guidance, including per diems rates and mileage expenses.

If the project involves international travel, we recommend the travelers review the UC Ethics, Compliance and Audit Services' information on  international travel ,  hand-carrying items abroad  and  export control laws & regulations  prior to traveling abroad. Additional export control information is available on the  UCSB Research Integrity website .

Participant Support

Per the Uniform Guidance, participant support costs means direct costs for items such as stipends or subsistence allowances, travel allowances, and registration fees paid to or on behalf of participants or trainees (but not employees) in connection with conferences, or training projects.

A stipend is defined as a fixed sum of money paid to a participant. Stipends are not paid in compensation of work performed.

This article from the  May 2017 NSF Policy Newsletter  answers some frequently asked questions about participant support.

Sponsored Projects staff use this unofficial  participant support flow chart  as a tool when reviewing budgets.

Subawards and Multi-Campus Awards (MCAs)

The total amount of each subaward or Multiple-Campus Award (MCA) should be listed as a seperate line item on the UCSB Detailed Budget. An authorized scope of work, budget, and budget justification must be submitted for each subaward or MCA. A Sub-recipeint Commitment Form or MCA Commitment Form, signed by an authorized official of the recipient entity, must be provided to Sponsored Projects prior to submission of the proposal. See  UCSB Office of Research - Subawards  page for details.

Indirect costs are assessed on the first $25,000 of each individual subaward for all  New  and  Renewal  proposals (effective July 1, 2009). If the first budget period is less than $25,000, remember to add the remaining amount to equal the $25,000 in the remaining budget period(s).

If UCSB is submitting a proposal that includes an MCA, no indirect costs are assessed on any part of the MCA amount. See Indirect Costs (IDC) or Facilities and Administration (F&A) Costs for additional guidance.

If unsure if the other entity's costs should be budgeted as a subaward or a service agreement (in Other Direct Costs), please review the  Subaward Determination Tip Sheet . If still unsure after reviewing the tip sheet, contact your  Sponsored Projects Team .

Other Direct Costs

Other Direct Costs include Materials and Supplies, Publication Costs, Consultant Costs and Contracts for Services, UCSB Campus Recharges, and Other.

Materials and Supplies

Material and supply costs are defined as items that cost less than $5,000. They must be reasonable and directly allocable to the supported activity, and should be listed on the budget with information detailing quantity, unit price, and a description of the item. Office supplies, postage, copy charges and local phone calls are examples of costs not normally allowed as direct costs. To be included, such costs must be significantly above what is normally covered by Indirect Costs (IDC) or Facilities and Administration (F&A) Costs, and must be specifically justified in the proposal and appropriate to the project.

Hazardous waste disposal costs are not allowable as a direct cost.

Publication Costs

You may include the costs associated with the dissemination of research findings from the proposed research. Publication costs typically include page charges for professional publications.

Consultant Costs & Contracts for Services

Consultant Costs generally may only be paid to individuals not employed by UC campuses or labs. The consultant should provide special knowledge that is needed for the project. Include the same information provided for UCSB project personnel (name, title, etc) and be specific about daily rate and amount of days for which they will be paid.

Contracts for Services should be included in the budget as a line item. The total amount of the contract is accessed the appropriate IDC rate.

If unsure if the other entity's costs should be budgeted as a consulting/service agreement or as a subaward, please review the  Subaward Determination Tip Sheet . If still unsure after reviewing the tip sheet, contact your  Sponsored Projects Team .

UCSB Campus Recharges

Intercampus recharges for research related goods and services such as facility or equipment usage, university automobile rentals, or specialized technical services may be included in a project budget. All recharges must be directly allocable to the project, and should be estimated and escalated based on the  Estimating Project Costs  guidance found below. See also the  UCSB Budget & Planning Income & Recharge webpage  for additional information on recharge policies and procedures at UCSB.

Indirect Costs (IDC) Or Facilities and Administration (F&A) Costs

Indirect Costs (IDC) a.k.a. Facilities and Administrative (F&A) Costs represent those expenses that cannot be easily identified to any specific project but are incurred for common or joint objectives. They include operation and maintenance of facilities, including building depreciation, library expenses, space, utilities, payroll, accounting, and other services. The indirect cost rate is determined by the type of project i.e. research, instruction, or other. The rate is also determined by whether the project is performed on-campus or off-campus. Refer to UC  Research Policy and Coordination's  indirect cost recovery  webpage  and an  Introduction to Indirect Costs at UC Santa Barbara  for additional information.

The Council on Government Relations (COGR), an association of research universities and affiliated medical centers and independent research institutes, has prepared three documents to help explain what IDC (F&A) costs are, their importance and how the system works. 

UCSB's Federally Negotiated IDC or F&A Rate Agreement (updated 04/10/2018)

UCSB has pre-determined IDC rates that have been negotiatied with the Department of Health & Human Services (DHHS). See the current  negotiated rate agreement for UCSB  which applies to all proposals submitted on or after 04/10/2018.

The applicable IDC rate is determined by the type of project (i.e. Research, Instruction, Other Sponsored Activities, etc.) and by whether the project is performed on-campus or off-campus. Refer to the negotiated rate agreement for UCSB and the UCOP Contract & Grant Manual Chapter 8, or contact your Sponsored Projects Team for assistance determining the correct IDC rate for your project.

UCSB's indirect cost is assessed on  Modified Total Direct Costs  (MTDC). The MTDC base consists of salaries and wages, fringe benefits, materials, supplies, services, travel, and subcontracts (up to the first $25K of each). The costs of equipment, capital expenditures, graduate student remission (including tuition, fees, and health insurance), rental costs of off-site facilities, scholarships, fellowships, the portion of each subcontract in excess of $25K, and the total of each MCA is excluded from the MTDC base. When the new rate agreement comes into effect with proposals on or after 04/10/2018, Participant Support will also be excluded from the MTDC base.

A DHHS agreement statement should always be included at the end of the detailed budget to let agencies know which authority has negotiated our IDC rate agreement; "This is the DHHS negotiated, predetermined, on-campus rate for Research Projects covering the period July 1, 2017 through June 30, 2021. The rate thereafter is provisional."

IDC Policy Exceptions (updated 11/07/2017)

Proposals   must include the negotiated IDC rate  unless  an exception to the UC's policy on IDC recovery has been approved. Using written documentation of an alternate IDC rate or IDC base, Sponsored Projects will request an IDC exception. The sponsor's IDC policy should be published and apply equally to all applicants. Contact your  Sponsored Projects Team  for assistance preparing and documenting an alternate IDC rate or base.

See also  Calculating Indirect Costs with a Total Costs Base  for assistance working with a sponsor imposed Total Costs IDC base.

IDC for Proposals to State of California Agencies

Proposals to State of California agencies should apply the appropriate IDC rate from UCSB's federally negotiated rate agreement if the funds are ultimately flowing down from a federal agency. For proposals funded with state funds (and no federal funding), please apply the appropriate indirect cost rate in accordance with the guidance on our  State of California Proposal Guidance  page.

Budget Justification (Budget Narrative)

The Budget Justification (aka Budget Narrative) provides the rationale for proposed expenditures. Follow sponsor guidelines to prepare the budget justification for submission to the sponsor. If sufficient detail is not provided on the UCSB detailed budget, UCSB may require additional justification.

Note for NSF proposals only:  The definition of “year” is required to be included in the budget justifiation when you are requesting salary for Senior Personnel. See  NSF 18-1 PAPPG Section II.C.2.g.i(a) . When applicable, include the following statement, "UCSB defines 'year' as the fiscal year than spans from July 1 to June 30 each calendar year", in the section of the budget justification where you are justifying the salary request(s).  (updated 2/7/18)

Estimating and Justifying Project Costs (Updated 8/23/2018)

Once you know your direct cost budget categories, you will need to identify and project the costs for a sponsored project using generally accepted cost estimation methods. For categories other than Salaries and Wages, Fringe Benefits and Graduate Student Tuition, Fees, and Health Insurance, you will need to estimate your costs. There are multiple accepted cost estimation strategies:

• Historical Costs -  What has it cost in the past?
• Current Costs -  What do catalogs and website that sell this product currently charge?
• Vendor Quotes -  What is a vendor telling you it will cost for them to supply you with the product?
• Approved Recharge Rates -  If you are using a UCSB resource, what is the approved campus approved recharge rate?

You may utilize methods other than these to estimate your costs. However, you must ensure that your process is logical, you can explain it to someone else, and you are able to document how you obtained your numbers.

Escalating Costs (updated 8/23/2018)

When you estimate your costs, you should remember that costs increase over time. Because of this, we recommend that you include a modest escalation in the estimate of costs for direct charges. Escalating costs is consistent with the University's cost principles, and with the University's policy of recovering all costs of conducting sponsored projects. Escalation helps to ensure that your project receives adequate funding. You should use an escalation rate of 3 to 5% for most direct costs. There are three exceptions to this - Salaries and Wages, Fringe Benefits, and Graduate Student Tuition, Fees, and Health Insurance should be escalated in accordance with those rates indicated in these sections.

Documenting Costs

Once you've estimated your direct costs, you will also need to make sure you keep detailed documentation. Documentation supports how the costs were estimated and the reasons why costs were proposed. This is our proof that we are not just making up all of the numbers.

You can use any of the materials you used for your cost estimation as documentation. These could be things like payroll records, published merit & range increases, catalogs, on-line or other, vendor quotes, proposals, or documentation of historical costs for like projects.

If you are using web-based information as your documentation, you should save either a printed copy or PDF version of the page, not just the link. Auditors will need to see the information you used when you wrote your proposal budget, and the website will most likely update the information, or may not be available at the time of an audit.

Revised Budgets

A revised budget is a revision to the budget of a proposal that has already been submitted to the sponsor for review, but not yet awarded. Notification of a request for a revised budget may be sent to the SPO team, the administering department, and/or the PI either via email or via the sponsor’s electronic grants management system (e.g. Fastlane). The notification will come with directions (a.k.a. Guidelines) indicating what changes to the budget are needed.

Requirements for revised budgets

• Guidelines from the sponsor (email, notice from online grants management system, etc.)
• Revised UCSB detailed budget
• Revised budget using sponsor's template (if requires, e.g. NSF Fastlane budget pages)
• Revised budget justification
• Sponsor Deadline for receiving the revised budget
• Budget impact statement - ONLY for NSF is the budget is reduced by at least 10%

 **Note: All revised budgets must use the originally proposed IDC rate UNLESS the sponsor requests to rebudget with our current rate.  

Sample Budget Justifications

Sponsor requirements differ, and sample budget justifications should be seen only as a starting point. Guidelines for sponsor requirements are in the annotated budget justifications. Read the solicitation and the sponsor’s proposal preparation guidelines for each proposal's requirements.

For Research Sponsors

• Sample Budget Justification for Non-Federal Research [DOCX]  - June 2024
• Annotated Budget Justification - Non-Federal Research  [webpage]
• Sample Budget Justification for Federal Research  [DOCX]  - June 2024
• Annotated Budget Justification - Federal Research  [webpage]

For Non-Research Sponsors:

• Sample Budget Justification for Non-Federal Non-Research [DOCX]  - June 2024
• Annotated Budget Justification - Non-Federal Non-Research  [webpage]
• Sample Budget Justification for Federal Non-Research [DOCX]  - June 2024
• Annotated Budget Justification - Federal Non-Research  [webpage]
• Uniform Guidance Fixed Rate Requirements
• F&A Methodology
• F&A Components
• MIT Use of a de minimis Rate
• Fund Account Overhead Rates
• Allocation Rates
• Determination of On-Campus and Off-Campus Rates
• Employee Benefits (EB) Rates
• Vacation Accrual Rates
• Graduate Research Assistant Tuition Subsidy
• Historical RA Salary Levels
• MIT Facts and Profile Information
• Classification of Sponsored Projects
• Types of Sponsored Awards
• How Are Sponsored Projects Generated?
• Cost Principles and Unallowable Costs
• Direct and Indirect Costs
• Pre-Proposals / Letters of Intent
• MIT Investigator Status
• Components of a Proposal
• Special Reviews
• Applying Through Workspace
• Proposal Preparation Checklist
• Proposals and Confidential Information
• Personnel Costs
• Subcontracts and Consultants
• Annotated Budget Justification - Federal Research
• Annotated Budget Justification - Non-Federal Research
• Annotated Budget Justification - Federal Non-Research
• Annotated Budget Justification - Non-Federal Non-Research
• Kuali Coeus Approval Mapping
• Roles and Responsibilities
• Submission of Revised Budgets
• Standard Contract Terms and Conditions
• Contractual Obligations and Problematic Terms and Conditions
• Review and Negotiation of Federal Contract and Grant Terms and Conditions
• Industrial Collaboration
• International Activities
• MIT Export Control - Export Policies
• Nondisclosure and Confidentiality Agreements
• Negative Confirmation On Award Notices
• Routing and Acceptance of the Award Notice
• COI and Special Review Hold Notice Definitions
• Limiting Long-Term WBS Account Structures
• SAP Project WBS Element Conditions
• Kuali Coeus Electronic Document Storage (EDS)
• Billing Agreements
• PI Absence from Project
• Cost Transfers
• Equipment Threshold
• Uniform Guidance and the FAR
• MIT Standard Terms and Policies
• Guidelines for Charging Faculty Summer Salary
• Key Personnel
• Limitations on Funds - Federal Contracts
• Monitoring Project Budgets
• No-Cost Extensions
• Reporting Requirements
• Return of Unexpended Funds to Foundations
• Determining the Sponsor Approved Budget (SAB)
• Working With the Sponsor Approved Budget (SAB)
• Sponsor Approved Budget (SAB) and Child Account Budgets
• Sponsor Approved Budget (SAB) and Prior Approvals
• Submitting an SAB Change Request
• When a PI Leaves MIT
• Research Performance Progress Reports
• Closing Out Fixed Price Awards
• Record Retention
• Early Termination
• Reporting FAQs
• Using SciENcv
• AFOSR No-Cost Extension Process
• Terms and Conditions
• Department of Defense Disclosure Guidance
• Department of Energy / Office of Science Disclosure Guidance
• Introduction to Industrial Sponsors
• General Considerations for Industrial Proposals
• SRC Guidance to Faculty Considering Applying for SRC Funding
• Find Specific RFP Information
• Industrial Proposal Checklist
• Proposal Formats
• Special Requirements
• Deadline Cycles
• Model Proposals
• Non-Competitive Industrial Proposals
• Master and Alliance Agreements With Non-Standard Proposal Processes
• Template Agreements
• New Consortium Agreements
• Competitive Industrial Proposals
• Collaborative (No-cost) Research Agreements
• National Aeronautics and Space Administration Disclosure Guidance
• NASA Graduate Research Fellowship Programs
• NASA PI Status and Definitions
• NIH Checklists and Preparation Guides
• National Institutes of Health Disclosure Guidance
• Human Subjects and NIH Proposals
• NIH Data Management and Sharing
• NIH Research Performance Progress Reports
• Grant Opportunities for Academic Liaison with Industry (GOALI) proposals
• MIT Guidance Regarding the NSF CAREER Program
• Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Supplements
• National Science Foundation Disclosure Guidance
• NSF Participant Support Costs
• NSF Proposals: Administrative Review Stage
• NSF Collaborations
• NSF Pre-Award and Post-Award Actions
• NSF Reporting
• NSF Frequently Asked Questions
• NSF Requirements for Harassment Free Environment
• NSF Safe and Inclusive Working Environment
• Process, Roles and Responsibilities
• What Is Allowable/Eligible Cost Sharing?
• MIT’s Preferred Cost Sharing Funds
• Third-Party Cost Sharing
• Showing Cost Sharing in a Proposal Budget
• Sponsor Specific Instructions Regarding Location in the Proposal
• Funding F&A Costs as Cost Sharing
• Using Faculty Effort for Cost Sharing
• Information about Completing the Cost Sharing Template
• NSF Cost Sharing Policy
• Tracking/Reporting Cost Sharing
• Special Cost Sharing Topics
• International Activities Examples
• Rubicon Fellowships
• Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellowships
• Criteria for Subrecipients
• Subawards at Proposal
• Requesting New Subawards
• Managing Subawards
• RAS Subaward Team Contacts
• Funding and Approval
• Proposal Phase
• Award Set-up
• Monitoring Research During Project Period
• Closeout Phase
• Voluntary Cost Sharing
• Sponsor-Specific Guidance
• Audits and Auditors
• Upcoming Trainings and Events
• Research Administration Practices (RAP)
• NCURA Virtual Workshops and Webinars
• Guide to RA Resources and Training
• Career Paths
• Newsletters
• Tools and Systems
• Award Closeout & Audits
• Award Setup
• Cost Sharing
• Export Control
• Financial Conflict of Interest
• Kuali Coeus
• Project Monitoring
• Proposal Preparation & Submission
• Research Sub Awards
• Research Administration Email Lists
• RAS Operations
• VPR Research Administration Organization Chart
• By department
• By administrator
• Research Administrator Day
• News & Announcements
• Onsite searching on the VPR public websites

How to Create More Accurate Budgets for Research Grant Proposals

Breaking down research costs

One of the most challenging aspects of budget development is identifying relevant costs. Remember, this financial plan quantifies only the expenses incurred while conducting research. It is not the organizational budget.

Begin by assessing the costs associated with the research essentials, i.e., the study design, study settings, testing procedures, and sample and data collection methods. These expenses can be divided into direct and indirect expenses.

Direct expenses

Direct expenses are costs arising solely from performing research. They must be allowable, allocable, reasonable, and consistent. Examples include:

• Personnel expenses: The salary and any benefits associated with the human resources necessary to conduct research, such as site managers, research assistants, research associates, data entry operators, etc.
• Recurring expenses: Costs that will continue throughout the study period, including consumables, materials, food, and medical charges
• Nonrecurring expenses: Single expenses incurred once during the study, such as the cost of equipment, instruments, software programs, computers, and electronic accessories
• Travel expenses: Costs incurred while traveling to collect data or visit other centers in cases of multicenter research. They may also include costs to attend meetings or conferences relevant to the research project.

Indirect expenses

Also known as overheads, these costs are not directly attributed to your specific study but are incurred while performing research. They include electricity and water bills, accommodation charges, administrative fees, library memberships, etc. Generally, these expenses make up 5-15% of a proposal budget.

The proposal budget should also include any direct or indirect expenses already covered. This means identifying any material or equipment previously paid for or made available by other sources.

Drafting the proposal budget

With all the relevant expenses identified, revisit the funding agency’s guidelines. Study each budgeting instruction line by line to ensure you understand the rules and limitations, from the maximum amount of funds you can request to any expenses not allowed. With this information, you now have a framework to build your grant budget.

Next, chronologically categorize each expense as direct or indirect, as well as weekly, monthly, or yearly, depending on your research project’s timeline.

With each item, justify the expense with specified rates and calculations. If the cost of an item is already covered, include the pertinent information. This meticulous approach demonstrates you will value any funding provided and will not splurge on unnecessary particulars.

Consider the example below of a sample travel budget illustrating this methodology:

* These rates are examples and will vary from actual rates.

Base all expense calculations on true costs quoted from trusted sources. Sponsors know overestimations when they see them. Underestimations also raise suspicion and may appear under-researched. Therefore, be as reasonable and accurate as possible.

Finally, include your methodology for tracking expenses throughout the research period, highlighting any tools or technologies to be used. This reassures sponsors you have all your bases covered.

Using integrated technology

Given the complexities of a grant proposal budget, traditional enterprise resource planning (ERP) platforms cannot support the level of precision and collaboration necessary for adequate budgeting. But by integrating advanced technology, such as Cayuse’s Fund Manager and Sponsored Projects, you can upgrade these legacy systems for optimized budgeting and proposal development.

Fund Manager allows for granular accounting and is accessible to all stakeholders through a customizable dashboard. Not only does it manage internal expenses and faculty salary splits, but it also supplements what-if planning and average monthly projections on a grant-by-grant basis.

With Sponsored Projects , administrators can track proposals, awards, contracts, and agreements via a user-specific dashboard. Its modern, user-friendly interface provides instant access, full visibility, and a collaboration workspace, relieving administrative burdens.

Boost your budgeting accuracy

Regardless of how appealing or innovative your research project might be, without justifiable numbers to back it up, it may be tossed aside. Don’t take this risk. Instead, leverage integrated technology, such as Cayuse’s Fund Manager and Sponsored Projects, to develop more accurate proposal budgets and maximize your chances to win funding.

Featured Resource:

6 ways to minimize risk in research administration

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Research and Economic Development

Preparing proposal budgets & budget justifications, general information for preparing proposal budgets, topics covered, definition of a budget, project costs, budgeting facilities and administrative costs as direct costs, cost estimation, escalation factors, cost assignment and allocation, documentation.

A categorical list of anticipated project costs that represent the Principal Investigator's best estimate of the funds needed to support the work described in a proposal. A budget consists of all direct costs, facilities and administrative costs, and cost sharing commitments proposed.

All proposed costs must clearly benefit the project and must be allowable under OMB Circular A-21 , sponsor policies, and University policies.

A facilities and administrative cost may be budgeted as a direct cost only when special circumstances exist that would necessitate or require treating the cost as a direct cost. In such a case, the budget justification must explain the special circumstances and the Principal Investigator and department are responsible for maintaining and retaining all appropriate documation that evidence such special circumstances.

Use generally accepted cost estimation methods such as catalog prices, price quotations, or historical or current costs and appropriately escalate costs over time.

Use inflationary or escalation factors as appropriate.

• The current escalation rate for non-personnel cost categories is 3% (excluding vivaria sales and service rates).   Effective November 1, 2012, please use a 10% annual escalation rate for vivaria sales and services.
• Personnel costs should be escalated in accordance with guidance provided on the Quick Reference page.

When developing a budget, it is necessary to estimate how the project will incur costs during each phase or year. The budget must itemize costs by major cost category for each project year as required by the sponsor's guidelines.

When assigning costs to proposal budget categories, use UCR's financial system budget categories, unless a sponsor's proposal budget form or policies require more detailed categorization.

As appropriate, describe the details of the costs proposed within each major cost category. Use general descriptions that can be tracked and reported through UCR's financial system. The budget justification should disclose the details that make up each cost category, and may include more detailed information regarding the items in each general description, as well as explain the method used to estimate these costs.

The principal investigator and/or department must maintain supporting documentation related to project cost estimates (on a proposal-by-proposal basis) for negotiation and audit purposes. This documentation should clearly describe or demonstrate the processes, methods and data used to estimate project costs.

Examples of supporting documentation include:

• Current University salary and wage scales
• Projected range adjustments (cost of living increases) and merit increases for personnel costs and the periods to which they apply
• Source of the benefit rate used (composite rate or actual rate)
• Vendor quotes
• Catalog prices
• Historical records indicating the supply/material costs incurred for like projects

Guidance by Budget Category

Salary and wages, topics included, project personnel, calculating salaries, calculating merit increases and range adjustments, summer salaries for nine-month appointees, cost sharing personnel costs, employee salary range projections.

When providing information about project personnel, follow the sponsor's guidelines and University policies.

List only UCR project personnel in this category. Salary and wage costs associated with non-UCR personnel must be treated either as consultant costs or as a subcontract. Project personnel usually includes faculty, technicians, post-docs, graduate students and other personnel who are essential to perform the project.

Calculate all project personnel costs using actual salaries. If the individual who will fill a position is not known, calculate the salary by using the mid-point salary from the appropriate UCR salary scale.

Never express personnel costs or effort in terms of hours, except for student, casual and per diem employees who are paid by the hour.

Project anticipated merit increases and range adjustments as appropriate for each position in each budget period. There is a six- to nine-month delay between proposal submission and award, so remember to calculate personnel costs using current actual salaries plus any merit or cost of living increases anticipated between proposal submission and the proposed start date.

List summer salary for nine-month instruction and research appointees using one-ninth, two-ninths or three-ninths of the base salary or apporpirate fractions thereof (e.g., half of a summer month) to calculate the amount requested. Some sponsors (e.g., NSF) restrict summer salary compensation to no more than two months.

Cost sharing that is offered and quantified anywhere in a proposal will become a legally binding obligation upon UCR if the sponsor makes an award in response to the proposal. This obligation includes the requirement to track and report the costs that UCR shared to fulfill its commitment. Please note the University does not cost share on projects proposed to, or funded by, for-profit sponsors.

Cost sharing faculty (nine-month instruction and research appointee) salaries associated with effort contributed during the academic year should only occur, or be offered, when a governmental or non-profit sponsor requires that the commitment of such effort be treated as cost sharing. If salaries of faculty or other project personnel will be offered as cost sharing, do so by listing the percent of effort to be funded by the sponsor as a single budget line item and the level of effort to be cost shared by the University as a different line item.

Example: In response to sponsor mandated cost sharing, a principal investigator will contribute 10% of her effort during the academic year to perform the proposed research. The first line of the personnel budget should indicate the 10% effort and request $0 for salary and $0 for associated fringe benefits. The next line in the personnel budget should be used to request an appropriate amount for the principal investigator's summer salary (commensurate with the level of effort to be devoted to the project during the summer period).

Salary Rate Cap

If an individual's salary rate exceeds a salary rate cap imposed by sponsor policy (e.g., NIH salary rate cap), list the institutional base salary (negotiated salary) in the budget, but calculate salary costs using the maximum salary rate allowed under the cap. This methodology must be disclosed in the budget justification. (Note: The amount of salary in excess of the salary rate cap is an unallowable cost and is not eligible for University cost sharing.)

The table in the Proposal Preparations - Salaries tab shows projected salary increases and should be used in calculating all contract and grant proposal budgets.

Administrative/Clerical Salaries - Special Guidance

Standard treatment, examples of administrative/clerical activities, treatment of administrative/clerical salaries in special circumstances, major project criteria, examples of major projects, questions to address when justifying administrative/clerical salaries.

In accordance with OMB Circular A-21 and University policy, administrative/clerical salaries are considered F&A costs and should not be budgeted in proposals or charged to extramural awards (sponsored programs).

The following list (which is not all inclusive) represents some of the most common, routine administrative/clerical activities:

• General departmental administration including maintaining general departmental databases
• Contracts and grants administration including proposal preparation
• Personnel, payroll and human resource functions, both staff and academic
• Accounting, budgeting and financial monitoring functions including bookkeeping and reconciling ledgers
• Travel planning
• Preparation of newsletters, brochures, correspondence and reports
• Purchasing functions including processing and tracking purchase orders, placing low value orders and receiving ordered goods/services
• Space management
• Equipment inventory
• Regulatory committee oversight including preparation of protocols for regulatory committee review

Administrative/Clerical salaries may be treated (budgeted and/or charged) as a direct cost if special circumstances exist that would necessitate or require an extensive amount of administrative/clerical personnel expenses significantly greater than the routine level of support that is provided by UCR departments and units. To treat an administrative/clerical salary as a direct cost, the following conditions must be met:

• the sponsored project/program must satisfy the Major Project criteria contained in OMB Circular A-21 (see below); and
• the administrative/clerical activities of the individual(s) whose salary and related benefits comprise such expenses can be specifically identified (i.e., with a high degree of accuracy) with the sponsored project/program; and
• the administering unit must maintain documentation that explains and supports items 1 and 2 above.

Major Project, as defined in OMB Circular A-21 is a project that requires an extensive amount of administrative/clerical personnel support, which is significantly greater than the routine level of such services provided by academic departments.

The following examples of federal Major Projects are illustrative of circumstances where direct charging of administrative and clerical support is appropriate:

• Projects that are geographically inaccessible to normal departmental administrative services such as research vessels, radio astronomy projects, and other research field sites that are remote from campus (e.g., field projects).
• Projects that require making travel and meeting arrangements for large numbers of participants, such as conferences and seminars.
• Large, complex programs, such as Primate Centers, Program Projects, environmental research centers, engineering research centers, and other grants and contracts that entail assembling and managing teams of investigators from a number of institutions.
• Projects which involve extensive data accumulation, analysis and entry, surveying, tabulation, cataloging, searching literature, and reporting.
• Projects whose principal focus is the preparation and production of manuals and large reports, books, or monographs (excluding routine progress and technical reports).
• Projects requiring the management of large databases; individualized graphics or manuscript preparation; projects involving multiple human or animal protocols; or projects involving coordination of, and communication between, multiple investigators at various locations.
• Since training grants are for a different purpose than a traditional research project, these project budgets may include costs that are normally treated as F&A costs. Training grants permit a budget for an "institutional allowance" which authorizes direct charging of appropriate expenses normally treated as facilities and administrative costs if they are reasonable, specifically identified with the project, and budgeted in the award.

The following examples are illustrative of circumstances where direct charging of administrative or clerical salaries to non-federal projects may be appropriate if the costs are budgeted and approved by the awarding agency:

• For-profit (Industrial/Commercial) sponsors: Projects performed for these organizations are proposed and awarded to be performed, at least in part, for the benefit of the sponsor. Total costs are the concern of the sponsor, not whether the costs are direct or facilities and administrative.
• Non-profit sponsors: Generally the purpose of private foundation funding is to supplement federal research support. Typically, non-profit sponsors do not support the facilities and administrative activities of the research project as indicated by their practice of funding facilities and administrative costs at a rate less than the institution's full F&A cost rate.
• State sponsored agreements: State agreements that have defined the types of costs that are direct or facilities and administrative would constitute a different circumstance than costs incurred under federal agreements. UCR must comply with State agency regulations and statutory requirements. Consequently, costs normally treated as facilities and administrative costs could be treated as direct if they are reasonable, specifically identified with the sponsored agreement, included in the award budget and considered allowable by the State or under the terms of the award.

Additional Examples of Activities in Support of "Major Projects"

• Competitive and complex procurement (e.g., securing competitive bids for one or more large subcontracts under a UCR prime award)
• Conducting a telephone survey or extensive interviewing of human research subjects
• Coordinating and managing a high number of consultant contracts/subcontracts
• Coordinating extensive travel and meeting arrangements
• Extensive data collection or entry
• Managing a large projects at multiple sites/locations
• Planning and organizing large conferences
• Preparing manuscripts/publications beyond the routine
• Extensive administrative activities in support of related projects (see OMB Circular A-21 (C.4.d. (3))

The above examples are neither exhaustive nor are they intended to imply that direct charging of these expenses would always be appropriate.

When justifying administrative/clerical salaries in proposal budgets (or before charging such expenses to a sponsored project/program), it is helpful to address the following issues:

• Are the administrative support needs of this project significantly greater than the routine level of administrative support provided for other projects in the department? If so, why? Also, describe how the administrative support activities of the administrative/clerical personnel working on the project are necessary for the successful performance of the project.
• If a job title or payroll classification implies that an individual's work is administrative in nature, but the person will be engaged in non-administrative work on a sponsored project/program, describe the non-administrative work to be assigned to the individual, as well as how such work is necessary for technical performance of the project.
• Can the proposed administrative/clerical support costs be easily and accurately allocated to the project? How will this be done? For example, an administrator working full-time for a project can be allocated easily and accurately to the project. However, if that person works on multiple projects, it may be difficult to accurately document the relative benefit of the administrator's salary (effort) to any specific project. The more projects a person works on, the more difficult it is to accurately and easily document the relative benefit to each project.

Distinguishing Between Stipends and Salary & Wages

UC C&G Manual, 8-515

Scholarships and fellowships are defined as financial aid paid directly to University students as scholarships, fellowships, stipends, or dependent allowances. This category does not include any disbursement of salaries and wages or honoraria.

UC C&G Manual, 7-217

Salaries and wages charged to sponsored agreements are paid for services of University employees rendered to the project during the period of performance of the particular agreement. All such payments must be made through University payroll procedures. Vacation, holiday, sick leave pay and other paid absences are included in salaries and wages and are charged to Sponsored Programs as part of the normal charge for salaries and wages.

UC Accounting Manual, Section T-182-77

Describes definitions and general rules for scholarships and fellowships, and taxation of both.

OMB Circular A-21, J.41. Scholarships and student aid costs

a. Costs of scholarships, fellowships, and other programs of student aid are allowable only when the purpose of the sponsored agreement is to provide training to selected participants and the charge is approved by the sponsoring agency. However, tuition remission and other forms of compensation paid as, or in lieu of, wages to students performing necessary work are allowable provided that (1) there is a bona fide employer-employee relationship between the student and the institution for the work performed, (2) the tuition or other payments are reasonable compensation for the work performed and are conditioned explicitly upon the performance of necessary work, and (3) it is the institution's practice to similarly compensate students in nonsponsored as well as sponsored activities.

IRS Publication 520 (Scholarships and Fellowships)

Wages and other compensation paid to a nonresident alien for services performed as an employee are usually subject to graduated withholding at the same rates as resident aliens and U.S. citizens. Therefore, your compensation, unless it is specifically excluded from the term "wages" by law, or is exempt from tax by treaty, is subject to graduated withholding.

If you work as an employee in the United States, you must pay social security and Medicare taxes in most cases. Your payments of these taxes contribute to your coverage under the U.S. social security system. Social security coverage provides retirement benefits and medical insurance (Medicare) benefits to individuals who meet certain eligibility requirements...All taxable wages are subject to Medicare tax...Your employer must deduct these taxes even if you do not expect to qualify for social security or Medicare benefits. You can claim a credit for excess social security tax on your income tax return if you have more than one employer and the amount deducted from your combined wages for 1999 is more than $4,501.20.

IRS Code, Title 26, Section 1.117-3, Computation of Taxable Income

Scholarship. A scholarship generally means an amount paid or allowed to, or for the benefit of, a student, whether an undergraduate or a graduate, to aid such individual in pursuing his studies. Fellowship grant. A fellowship grant generally means an amount paid or allowed to, or for the benefit of, an individual to aid him in the pursuit of study or research.

And Section 1.117-4

The following payments or allowances shall not be considered to be amounts received as a scholarship or a fellowship grant for the purpose of section 117: . . . (c) Amounts paid as compensation for services or primarily for the benefit of the grantor. (1) Except as provided in paragraph (a) of Secs. 1.117-2 and 1.117-5, any amount paid or allowed to, or on behalf of, an individual to enable him to pursue studies or research, if such amount represents either compensation for past, present, or future employment services or represents payment for services which are subject to the direction or supervision of the grantor. (2) Any amount paid or allowed to, or on behalf of, an individual to enable him to pursue studies or research primarily for the benefit of the grantor.

Employee Fringe Benefits Information and Guidance

Fringe benefit costs, calculation method, "to be named" positions, employee benefit rate projections.

If a proposal budget requests project personnel salaries and wages, the budget must also request the fringe benefit costs associated with the salaries and wages.

Each proposal must be consistent in the method used to calcuate fringe benefit rates; therefore, actual fringe benefit rates should be used as they offer the highest degree of accuracy. Use the composite fringe benefit rates listed below for "to be named" positions (defined below) or when an employee's actual fringe benefit rate is not known (e.g., budgeting fringe benefits for a new employee).

All fringe beneift rates (actual or composite) are expressed as a percent of salary. Therefore, to calculate fringe benefit costs, multiply the salary requested for each employee by the applicable fringe benefit rate.

Do not escalate fringe benefit rates from year to year in multiyear budgets. Fringe benefit rates remain stable as a percentage of the requested salary.

A "to be named" position is a position or role on a project where the person who will undertake the responsibilities and activities of that position or role is not known at the time of budget preparation. Even if actual fringe benefit rates are used to calculate the costs for all other personnel, use the appropriate composite employee benefit rate listed below for the "to be named" position. Disclose the composite rate used in the budget justification and explain the deviation from use of actual fringe benefit rates.

In accordance with guidance issued by the UC Office of the President, Research Administration Office and the UCR Research and Economic Development Office, use actual fringe benefit rates when estimating fringe benefit costs. Use the composite fringe benefit rates at Proposal Preparation - Benefits when estimating fringe benefit rates for "to be named" positions, or when an employee's actual fringe benefit rate is not known (e.g., budgeting for the fringe benefits of a new employee).

Sometimes it is necessary to provide a sponsor with detailed background information regarding the composite fringe benefit rates. This information is available by contacting the Contract and Grant Officer assigned to your unit.

How to Calculate Fringe Benefit Rates

When preparing a proposal budget, you will need to know not only the salary but also the fringe benefit rate of all employees who will be paid from the award.  The term fringe benefits includes the following employment related costs at UCR (not all of the below costs are applicable to every employee):

• FICA (Social Security and Medicare)
• Workers Compensation Insurance
• Employee Support Program
• Unemployment Insurance
• UC Retirement Plan (employer contribution to resume April 1, 2010)
• Vacation Assessment
• Staff Recognition & Development Award Program
• Other Post Employment Benefit (formerly Annuitant Health)
• Benefits Administration Rate
• Health Insurance
• Life Insurance
• Core Life Insurance
• UC Paid Disability
• General Liability (Percentage Based: Source Code GEL)
• Employment Practices (Percentage Based: Source Code GEL)
• Graduate Student Health Insurance Program (GSHIP)
• Graduate Student Fee Remission
• Graduate Student Tuition Remission (Non-resident Students Only)
• Dependent Care Reimbursement

To obtain the current year's percentages and flat rate amounts for these benefits, go to accounting's UCR Benefits page and select the correct year.

A Current UCR Employee To calculate a current employee's fringe benefit rate, use UCR's web‐based Super DOPE application to download the individual's actual salary and benefits.  (If the employee's position has been reclassified recently, only download actual data from the date of change forward.  The goal is to capture information that is most predictive of what the benefit rate will be during a future budget period - so use your judgment as to the appropriate block of time to download.)

• From the opening Super DOPE screen (the Criteria tab) select the appropriate fiscal years and periods/months, department and organization code, and then select the employee.  Click on the icon to the right of DOS (Description of Service) and select REG (Regular).  You may choose to also include any stipend‐type DOS codes if the employee is being paid a stipend that would be continued during the project period.
• Click on the Columns tab, which opens showing Common Fields. Select the Title Code, End Date, DOS, Pay Rate, Gross Amount, Time Hours, and Time Percent fields.
• Click on the Benefit Fields link and click on the Show Total Benefits option.
• Click on the Other Fields link and select the Title Code Desc field.
• Click the Search button and download your query results to Excel.
• From within Excel, delete any end dates that you do not need (if necessary), and total the Gross Amount and Total Benefits columns.
• Divide the sum of Total Benefits by the sum of Gross Amount (don't forget to change the format of the answer to percent) and you have this current employee's fringe benefit rate.

Please note that if an employee's title and pay rate has recently changed or will change, the employee's actual fringe benefit rate may change.   As a general rule for non-ladder rank academics and career staff, the lower the salary, the higher the benefit rate.   Conversely, as the salary gets higher, the benefit rategets lower.

Note that by not choosing the DOS code VAC, vacation usage has been excluded while vacation accrual costs have been included as part of this calculation.

An Employee Who Is to Be Hired or Is Not Known To calculate the total labor cost for employees who have not yet been hired, you will need to know the official UCR Title that will be used.   With the correct title, you can look up the associated salary range on the UC Title and Pay Plan chart, which is on the Human Resources website .  Determine the salary at which the new employee is expected to be hired and select the appropriate composite rate from the C omposite Employee Benefit Rates chart at Proposal Preparation - Benefits .

Postdoctoral Scholars (often referred to as Post Docs) These academic employees have different medical, life, disability, and workers' comp rates.  If you are calculating these rates for someone who will be hired as a Post Doc, but who is not currently a UCR employee, go to Proposal Preparation - Benefits where all composite rates are listed.  For additional information you may also go to UCR Benefits page , click on the Employer Cost link for the correct year, and scroll down to find details of the Post Doctoral Scholar Benefit Plans.

Any Current Employee and Future Employee ("to be named" position) There are currently two benefit costs that are posted outside the payroll system in two different accounts.

• General Liability posts in BC47, Other, S&E, in account 780220 Insurance, Gen Liab & Comp
• Employment Practices Liability posts in BC47, Other, S&E, in account 780210, Insurance, Employment Related

If the Activity Code for your unit begins with A4 or A5 and you will be preparing a proposal to a State of California, local government or private sponsor that will be associated with such an Activity Code, these benefit costs should be included in your fringe benefit calculation.  The current year's rates for these expenses are on UCR Benefits page .

Important Considerations While this may be self evident, it is important to remember that actual costs posted to a Contract or Grant may differ from those costs estimated for budget purposes.  There are many instances where budgeted costs may vary from actual costs.  The actual rate is what will be charged to the sponsor.

The Communication Worker Fee is not currently charged to Contract & Grant funds and should not be budgeted as a fringe benefit or any other type of direct cost in a proposal budget.

This guidance may not be applicable to ladder-rank academics with 9 month appointments as individuals with less than annual appointments may be subject to significant changes in their actual fringe benefit rate between the academic year and summer months.

Graduate Student Fees and Tuition Remission

Estimating graduate student fees and tuition.

• Budgeting Graduate Student Fees and Tuition

Student Eligibility

Payment of fee and tuition remission.

Please use the information located on the Tuition, Fee Remission, GSHIP tab of the Proposal Preparation page to estimate tuition, partial fee remission and graduate student health insurance program costs.

Budgeting Graduate Student Fees & Tuition

Graduate student fees and tuition are considered fringe benefits for budgeting purposes. To comply with UCR's cost accounting practices, budget graduate student fees and tuition by:

• Calculate fringe benefit costs as described in Employee Fringe Benefits .
• Determine the appropriate graduate student fees and nonresident tuition (as applicable) for the period of time that the graduate student will receive compensation for working on the project and remain eligible for partial fee and tuition remission.
• Determine the cost for graduate student health insurance, as applicable.
• List the combined costs (fringe benefits plus partial fee and tuition remission plus GSHIP) in the budget as the total fringe benefit cost for the graduate student.
• Explain in the budget justification that the total fringe benefit costs include fringe benefits, partial fee and tuition remission and GSHIP. In addition, describe how these cost components were estimated for multi-year projects.
• When calculating the Facilities and Administrative Costs (indirect costs) for the budget, remember that F & A costs are not assessed on the partial fee and tuition remission when using the modified total direct cost base described in UCR's Rate Agreement with the Department of Health and Human Services.

To be eligible for UCR's Graduate Student Partial Fee and Tuition Remission Program, a graduate student must meet all of the following conditions:

Partial Fee Remission & GSHIP

• The student must have an appointment in the Graduate Student Researcher series serving at 25% time or more across all funding sources for the full academic quarter for which fees and tuition are paid.
• The appointment must be effective the first day of the quarter for which fees and tuition are paid.
• The student must be within normative time for the degree program.

Non-Resident Supplemental Tuition Remission

• The student must have an appointment in the Graduate Student Researcher series serving at 45% time or more across all funding sources during the academic year to qualify for tuition remission.

To comply with UCR's cost accounting practices and UCR's Graduate Student Partial Fee and Tuition Remission Program:

• Payment for fee and tuition remission should be made from the same funding source that provided salary and fringe benefits whenever possible.
• Departmental, fellowship or other unrestricted funds must be used to pay the fees and tuition of eligible graduate students receiving salary/fringe benefits from General Funds or awards originating from nonparticipating sponsors.

Supplies and Materials

Categorizing expenses, project specification and descriptions, special considerations: for-profit sponsors.

Supplies and materials are consumable items (e.g., animals, glassware, chemicals, reagents, etc.) used in the course of conducting the scope of work for a project.

Estimate supplies using an appropriate cost estimation method such as catalog prices, vendor quotes or historical costs for like projects (appropriately escalated). The estimate should include all costs associated with obtaining that supply or material, including shipping, handling and delivery charges.

Do not propose as a direct cost supplies/materials normally treated as a facilities and administrative cost without adequately documenting in the budget justification the project specific special purpose or circumstance necessitating the charge.

Projects funded by industry sponsors are performed primarily for the benefit the sponsor, the University and the public of California. Generally, these sponsors are concerned with the total cost of conducting a project rather than the classification of costs. Accordingly, direct charging supplies/materials normally treated as facility and administrative costs may be appropriate under such circumstances.

Assign only supply and material costs to this category. Do not propose equipment or other direct costs as supplies and materials.

Use broad categories to describe supply expenses and provide a more detailed description of the category in the budget justification (e.g., glassware would include test tubes, beakers, etc.)

When using a standard budget, propose costs using UCR's major cost categories to enable the tracking of such costs in the UCR financial system. If the sponsor requests or requires more detailed information, provide it in the budget justification.

All proposed supply expenses must be project specific. That is, performance of the project must necessitate the acquisition and consumption of the budgeted supplies and materials.

Do not use words such as "general" or "miscellaneous" to describe supply costs.

University Regulation No. 4 requires full recovery of expenses (direct and indirect costs) incurred when undertaking activites for external entities. Consequently, it is not appropriate to use University funds to support the costs of a project funded by a for-profit sponsor. Likewise, it is not apprpriate to use funds provided by one sponsor to support the costs of a project funded by another sponsor, as doing so could result in the University promising the same exclusive rights regarding project intellectual property to both sponsors and extensive litigation expenses for the University.

Equipment Costs Information and Guidance

Implementation of change in the capitalization threshold for equipment, estimating equipment costs, project specific, describing equipment, fabricating equipment.

Equipment is defined by the University as an article of non-expendable, tangible personal property having a useful life of more than one year and an acquisition cost of $5,000 or more per unit.

Proposal budgets with projected expenditures for equipment items to be received on or after July 1, 2006 must budget for Facilities & Administrative (F&A) costs at the new threshold of $5,000. Since it may be difficult to forecast the beginning date of a project and delivery dates for purchased items, the Office of Research strongly recommends that all proposals submitted on or after January 1, 2006 use the new $5,000 threshold when estimating and budgeting equipment costs.

Estimate the cost of equipment using an appropriate cost estimation method such as vendor quotes or catalog prices. Make sure that sales tax, duty, transit insurance, freight, and installation charges are included in the estimated cost.

All proposed equipment expenses must be specific to the project (i.e., the proposed work could not be performed without acquiring and using the proposed equipment). Do not propose general purpose equipment such as office equipment (computers, typewriters, etc.), furnishings, air conditioners, refrigerators, freezers, etc. without clearly describing the project specific need for such equipment in the budget justification.

It is not appropriate for UCR to propose the use of University funds to support the acquisition of equipment on a project funded by a for-profit sponsor or to propose the use of funds provided by one sponsor to acquire equipment for a project supported by a for-profit sponsor.

To maximize flexibility in purchasing equipment, avoid describing equipment by product name, or referencing the maker of the equipment in either the budget or the budget justification. If it is impossible to describe proposed equipment without referencing the manufacturer, make, model number, etc. then provide this information and include the words "or equivalent" at the end of the description.

If equipment will be fabricated during the course of the project, the cost of material components (even if the cost of these components do not meet the definition of equipment) are exempt from facilities and administrative costs and should be listed as equipment costs. Recharge costs or purchased services directly related to the fabrication of equipment are also exempt from facilities and administrative costs. However, the salaries, wages and benefit costs associated with equipment fabrication are not exempt from facilities and administrative costs.

Travel Information and Guidance

Travel costs, domestic/foreign travel, air carriers, estimating costs, itemization, descriptions.

Travel costs must benefit the proposed project and usually include travel associated with fieldwork and attendance at scientific meetings for the purpose of presenting project findings and/or results.

Budget domestic travel and foreign travel separately. Foreign travel is defined as any travel outside of Canada and the United States and its territories and possessions.

In accordance with University policy, U.S. flag air carriers must be used to the maximum extent possible when commercial transportation is the means of travel between the United States and a foreign country or between foreign countries.

Use historical costs, contact a travel agent or use an internet travel service (e.g., Travelocity, Expedia, Hotwire, etc.) to estimate airfare, hotel and ground transportation (e.g., rental car) costs.

Remember that UCR employees may take advantage of certain State of California fares and rates. In addition, the University has several travel contracts for rental cars and hotel rooms. The information from the contracts can be very useful in estimating travel costs and are availabe on the UCR Accounting Services Department website .

Use current UCR per diem and mileage rates for domestic travel and U.S. State Department approved rates for foreign travel .

Itemize travel costs in the budget justification only.

Do not use words such as "general" or "miscellaneous" to describe travel costs.

Participant Support Costs

Participant Support Costs are allowable direct cost expenses on sponsored programs related to conferences, meetings, symposia or training projects. These expenses include stipends or subsistence allowances, travel allowances and registration fees paid to or on behalf of individuals (but not employees) who participate in such activities. It is important to note that stipends or subsistence allowances, lodging expenses and/or travel allowances associated with bringing colleagues to UCR for the purpose of collaborating on sponsored research programs are not Participant Support Costs and should be proposed in the appropriate direct cost budget category (e.g., travel). UCR receives extramural funding from a broad spectrum of sponsors. Therefore, it is important to refer to sponsor policy and program-specific guidelines prior to preparing proposal budgets to determine if Participant Support Costs are allowable and, if so, how to properly budget and justify such costs.  In the absence of specific sponsor guidelines or policies, Participant Support Costs should not be included in UCR's proposals without written prior approval from the sponsor. Prior to rebudgeting funds from Participant Support Costs to another budget category, it is important to carefully review award terms and sponsor policy, and consult with Sponsored Programs Administration, as the sponsor's prior approval may be required or rebudgeting may be prohibited.

Other Direct Costs

Defining other direct costs, consultants, publications.

The other direct costs (or other costs) category includes expenses such as animal per diem costs (the cost of animals should be listed as a supply), human subject honoraria, publication charges, subawards, computer time, maintenance and other service agreements/charges, patient care costs, space rental, consultants, alterations or renovations, equipment rental, etc. Some of these costs are discussed below.

Consultants are individuals hired to give professional advice or services for a fee but not as an employee of the University and they do not perform a portion of the programmatic work. Consultants are used to provide such advice or services when no other University employee with like expertise or experience is available to participate in the proposed project. University policy prohibits University personnel from serving as paid consultants on grants or contracts awarded to UCR.

Do not list consultants in the personnel or salary and wages section of the budget .

Cost estimates should be secured in writing. This may be in the form of a written quote or in a letter from the principal investigator or department to the consultant confirming a verbal quote.

Do not use the words "honoraria" or "honorarium" to describe payments to consultants as it implies that there is no requirement to perform any service.

Review the sponsor's budget guidelines for limitations on consultant costs.

Estimate the cost of preparing and publishing project results by determining the journal(s) in which project results may be published. Then use the established page rate charge(s) assessed by the journal(s) to estimate publication costs based on the anticipated number of pages to be published (based on historical experience).

Entering into a subaward is the means by which a portion of the project work (programmatic or technical effort) is transferred to another entity, UC campus or UC managed lab.

A proposal from the subaward recipient must be secured and included with or incorporated into UCR's proposal. The subaward recipient's proposal should at minimum include a scope of work and budget and must be signed or endorsed by the subaward recipient's authorized official.

Unless otherwised required by the sponsor, the total cost of the subaward (both direct and indirect costs) must be listed as a single cost item in the other direct costs category. If multiple subawards are anticipated, the sum of all subawards should be listed.

Non-Salary Administrative Expenses - Special Guidance

Examples of non-salary administrative expenses, treatment of non-salary administrative expenses in unlike circumstances, examples of unlike circumstance, questions to address when justifying non-salary administrative expenses.

In accordance with  2 CFR Part 200, Subpart E - Cost Principles , non-salary administrative expenses are considered Facilities and Administrative (F&A) costs and should not be budgeted in proposals or charged to extramural awards (sponsored projects/programs).

The following list (which is not all inclusive) represents the most common, routine non-salary administrative expenses:

• Basic telephone line, equipment, installation and local telephone services
• General purpose equipment
• Postage and other mailing expenses, as well as express mail and/or courier charges for routine departmental operations including delivery of proposals
• Memberships and subscriptions
• General administrative supplies
• Normal repairs and maintenance services
• Service of equipment installed as part of state funded capital projects or an integral part of a central building service

Non-salary administrative expenses may be treated (budgeted and/or charged) as a direct cost if, as a result of the scope of the project/program, unlike circumstances exist that necessitate or require that a project/program incur non-salary administrative expenses at a level significantly greater than what is routinely provided by UCR departments and units. To treat non-salary administrative expenses as a direct cost, the following conditions must be met:

• the scope of the sponsored project/program must necessitate or require non-salary administrative expenses that are significantly greater than what is routinely provided by the department or units; and
• the non-salary administrative expenses can be specifically identified, with relative ease and a high degree of accuracy with the sponsored project/program; and

Following are examples of Unlike Circumstance where direct charging of non-salary administrative expenses may be appropriate:

• Mailing expenses for projects that involve a large survey.
• Departmental administrative supplies used for the production of manuals as described in the scope of work or required as a deliverable under the terms of an extramural award.
• Departmental administrative supplies required to conduct, tabulate and store the results of a survey identified in the scope of work of an extramural award.
• A membership fee required in order to subscribe to a journal, where the subscription is necessary for performing the work under a sponsored agreement.
• Telephone line charges for projects that are geographically inaccessible (i.e., where the geographical separation between the project work site and departmental administrative support would reasonably necessitate such an expense).

When justifying non-salary administrative expenses in proposal budgets (or before charging such expenses to a sponsored project/program), it is helpful to address the following issues:

• Are the non-salary administrative needs of this project/program significantly greater than what is routinely provided by the department to other sponsored projects/programs? If so, why? Also, describe why it is necessary to incur the non-salary administrative expenses for the successful performance of the project/program.
• Can the proposed non-salary administrative expenses be easily and accurately allocated to the project/program? How will this be done? If non-salary administrative expenses benefit multiple projects/programs, it may be difficult to accurately document the relative benefit of such expenses to any specific project/program.

Budgeting International Scholar Center Fees

Budgeting and allocating international scholar center (isc) fees.

In July 2008, the International Scholar Center (ISC) implemented a fee-for-service model for visa processing services. The following guidance is provided to assist PIs, departments and research units with budgeting ISC fees in proposal budgets and allocating such costs to sponsored awards. Questions regarding this guidance should be directed to the Contract and Grant Officer assigned to your unit or the Assistant Vice Chancellor for Research.

Circumstances Where Budgeting and Allocating ISC Fees May Be Allowable

The following are examples of circumstances where it may be allowable to budget ISC fees in extramural proposals and allocate such costs to sponsored awards:

• A position that is essential to the conduct of a project will be (or has been) recruited and the recruitment will more than likely result (or has resulted) in the hiring of a person other than a U.S. citizen or a U.S. permanent resident.
• The research team for a sponsored program includes a current UCR employee who is neither a U.S. citizen nor U.S. permanent resident, whose visa will expire during the project period and where the employee's continued participation in the research is essential to the conduct of the project.
• A proposal includes an international exchange of visitors and the purpose of the program is, in part, to provide support for the travel of such visitors to enable face-to-face research collaborations.

The preceding is not an all-inclusive list of examples. Rather, it is meant to encourage thoughtful analysis and to illustrate that each situation is unique and should be evaluated based on the relevant facts and circumstances.

Allowability

The allowability of ISC processing fees as a direct cost in extramural proposals and on sponsored awards may be determined by considering the circumstances of each case in conjunction with applicable policies and regulations, including but not limited to:

• The terms and conditions of the sponsored award
• Sponsor proposal and award policies and regulations
• UCR/UC costing policies, including UCR's Cost Accounting Standards Board Disclosure Statement
• Code of Federal Regulations - 2 CFR Part 200, Subpart E - Cost Principles

Effective Date: July 14, 2008

Facilities & Administrative Costs

Applying f&a cost rates in proposal budgets, calculating f & a costs, f & a cost waivers, definitions.

As a publicly supported institution, the University is obligated to The Regents and the State to recover the full costs of sponsored research activities. Facilities & Administrative (F&A) costs are reimbursement for costs incurred and paid primarily with public funds from the State of California to cover actual operating costs incurred by the University for facilities and administrative personnel necessary to support extramurally funded research. All organizations require an infrastructure of buildings, equipment, management, administrative and fiscal systems, and staff to carry out the activities of the organization.

2 CFR Part 200  defines indirect (i.e., F & A costs) as "those costs incurred for common or joint purpose benefitting more than one cost objective, and not necessarily assignable to the cost objectives specifically benefitted, without effort disproportionate to the results achieved."

As a recipient of Federal funds, UCR is required to negotiate a F&A cost rate agreement with the Department of Health and Human Services (UCR's cognizant federal audit agency) to establish F&A cost rates for use with UCR's extramural awards. The University negotiates "predetermined" F & A cost rates. These rates are final and not subject to upward or downward adjustment based upon actual costing experience. Typically, predetermined rates are significantly lower than those supported by the calculations used by the University to determine its actual F & A cost rate. However, by negotiating a stable F &A cost rate in a multi-year agreement the University avoids annual audits of actual cost data and annual rate adjustments, and also avoids significant rate fluctuations that may result from fluctuating cost pools.

The rates listed on Proposal Preparation - F&A Cost Rates must be used when estimating F&A costs in proposals to extramural sponsors. Use of a rate other than those identified in our F&A rate agreement or approved by the UC Office of the President, requires approval of a waiver request. Contact the Contract and Grant Officer assigned to your unit for questions regarding the appropriate rate to use in your proposal budget.

Calculate the Modified Total Direct Cost (MTDC) base by subtracting the costs listed below from the budgeted Total Direct Costs:

• equipment and capital expenditures;
• charges for patient care;
• rental, lease and maintenance costs of off-campus space;
• tuition and fee remission;
• financial aid paid directly to University students, but not as salaries and wages, when allowable under the terms of the award;
• participant support costs;
• subawards issued to other UC campuses; and
• the portion of each non-UC subaward that is in excess of $25,000. Simply stated, UCR indirect costs are assessed on the first $25,000 only of each sub-award. Renewal of a prime award generally requires the issuance of a new subaward, hence indirect costs are charged to the first $25,000 of the renewed subaward. The indirect costs charged by a subaward recipient are not limited by this exception.

Then, multiply the result (MTDC base) by the appropriate F&A cost rate to find the F&A cost amount.

Facilities and administrative costs are a normal and necessary part of funding research at the University of California, Riverside. These costs are real expenses that are incurred by the campus and that must be met, either by the sponsor that provides support for the research or by other funds.

In order for UCR to waive or reduce F & A costs on a given project, a compelling reason showing that a higher University purpose will be served is necessary . It is for this reason that UC campuses cannot make independent decisions on these matters; requests for waivers which are received by the Vice Chancellor for Research are forwarded to the Office of the President for review and approval.

It is increasingly the case that requests for such waivers are presented to the Office of Research very close to the time at which the proposal must be approved and submitted to comply with a rigid deadline. Such timing does not allow for proper and fair evaluation of such requests. Therefore, requests for waivers or partial waivers of F & A costs, including a full explanation of the reasons for the request, must be forwarded to Sponsored Programs Administration at least 5 working days before the deadline for submitting a proposal . Each request will be considered independently on its own merits. Approvals are the exception rather than the rule. In particular, requests will not be approved simply because a PI feels more funds are needed for direct costs than would otherwise be available.

The above does not apply for proposal submissions to sponsors for which the University of California has agreed to a reduction or waiver of F & A costs on a class basis.

Address any questions concerning whether a specific sponsor falls under this exemption with the Contract and Grant Officer assigned to your unit.

Organized Research - All research and development activities of an institution including sponsored research. Sponsored research includes all research and development activities that are sponsored by Federal and non-Federal agencies and organizations. This term includes activities involving the training of individuals in research techniques (commonly called research training) where such activities utilize the same facilities as other research and development activities and where such activities are not included in the instruction function.

Instruction - Instruction means the teaching and training activities of an institution, except for research training as described above. Instruction includes all teaching and training activities, whether they are offered for credits toward a degree or certificate or on a non-credit basis, and whether they are offered through regular academic departments or separate divisions, such as a summer school division or an extension division. Instruction also includes sponsored instruction and training which means specific instructional or training activity established by grant, contract, or cooperative agreement.

Other Sponsored Activities - This means programs and projects financed by Federal and non-Federal agencies and organizations which involve the performance of work other than instruction and organized research. Examples of such programs and projects are health service projects, and community service programs.

Direct Costs - Direct costs are those costs that can be identified specifically with a particular sponsored project, an instructional activity, or any other institutional activity and are directly assigned to such activities relatively easily with a high degree of accuracy.

Facilities and Administrative Costs - F&A costs are those incurred for common or joint objectives and, therefore, cannot be identified readily and specifically with a particular sponsored project, an instructional activity, or any other institutional activity.

Modified Total Direct Costs (MTDC) Base - The MTDC base is the total direct costs for a project less those budget items that are excluded by agreement with the audit agency. The excluded costs are: equipment, construction, alterations and renovations, hospital or clinic charges for patient care, space rental or lease, tuition and fee remission, scholarships, participant support costs, and the amount that exceeds $25,000 of any subaward. See the Calculation section for more information.

Off-Campus Projects - Projects that are based at facilities not owned, or leased and maintained by the University. However, if the project is conducted in leased space and the lease costs are directly charged to the project, the off-campus rate must be used. If the project involves both on-campus and off-campus sites, either the on-campus or off-campus rate generally should be applied, consistent with where the majority of the work is to be performed as measured by salary cost. The use of both on- and off-campus rates may be justified if both rates can be clearly identified with a significant portion of project salaries, meaning 25% or more of total salary/wage costs and the project's total salary/wage costs exceed $250,000.

Project Period - Project period means the total time for which support of a program has been approved, initially or by a renewal award. As used by the Public Health Service, Project Periods consist of one or more annual budget periods with funding for future years beyond the initial budget period provided on a non-competing basis.

Total Direct Costs (TDC) - TDC is the total of all direct costs budgeted for a project.

Guidance for Proposals Submitted to NIH

Nih modular budgets at ucr.

Applications for the following types of NIH grants which request funding of $250,000 or less for direct costs per year must be submitted using the modular format:

• Individual Research Project Grants (R01)
• Small Grants (R03)
• Exploratory/Developmental Grants (R21)
• SBIR and STTR, Phase I (R41 and R43
• Requests for Applications (RFAs)

Unsolicited, investigator-initiated applications requesting more than $250,000 in any year , and applications for grant activities not specified above, continue to follow the traditional application instructions and applicable NIH policies. RFAs soliciting applications greater than $250,000 may be modular at the discretion of the issuing Institute/Center(s), as specified in the published RFA.

Below is additional guidance for the preparation of modular grant proposal budgets at UCR. If you have questions, please contact the Contract and Grant Officer assigned to your department.

Under the modular format, direct costs are requested in increments of $25,000 (modules), up to $250,000 per year. A typical modular grant application will request the same number of modules in each year. Although NIH does not require that detailed budgets be submitted with Modular Grant Applications, detailed budgets should be created by the PI and department administrator to ensure that:

• sufficient direct costs are included to complete the project;
• the Facilities and Administrative (F&A - formerly indirect) cost base is accurately calculated, as this information must be shown on the Checklist page; and
• UCR Extramural Accounting will be able to allocate the funds properly when an award is made.

GENERAL APPROACH

To insure that the proposed budget accurately reflects the funds needed to carry out the scope of work and complies with the modular format:

• Prepare a detailed budget as in the past (this detailed budget should be retained in the department files in the event of an award).
• If the same level of support is contemplated for each year, divide the total direct costs of the entire project by the number of years of the project, rounding off to the nearest $25,000, to determine the annual level of support to be requested.
• Determine the base for calculating F & A for each year by totaling any standard exclusions (equipment, GSHIP, PFR, etc.) and subtracting these from the modular total for that year. This step is necessary to request the annual F&A costs on the Checklist page.
• Provide a budget narrative for all project personnel by position, role and level of effort and, when applicable, consortium/subcontract costs.
• When variations in the level of funding is needed due to specific project expenditures for one or more years include an additional justification that addresses the reason(s) for the fluctuation.

Additional information pertaining to modular budgets is available from the following NIH web sites:   

• Modular Budget Sample: Same Modules
• Modular Budget Sample: Variable Modules
• Frequently Asked Questions

UCR Academic Personnel Office will annually announce the updated guidelines on the NIH Salary Cap rate on the UCR Academic Personnel website , under Local Compensation Policy and Guidelines, during the winter quarter or spring quarter (based on when the information from the NIH is available).

NIH Grants and Funding Salary Cap Summary

Guidance for Research Projects Operating Abroad

Guidance for research projects operating abroad - insurance and liability.

The UCOP Office of Risk Services has arranged foreign liability insurance for the University's operations outside the USA.  The primary goals of purchasing this centrally controlled insurance program are to protect the University and adhere to local insurance laws, while allowing the University faculty and staff to engage in research and educational endeavors abroad with minimal insurance procurement administration and costs.

Before starting any project abroad, there are several items that should be to taken into consideration:

Foreign General Liability

• Are you signing a lease for office or research space and being required to provide evidence of insurance coverage?
• Are you purchasing any office or research space?
• Are you entering into any contracts with foreign government agencies or entities?

If you answer "Yes" to any of the above, UC may be required to procure a general liability policy in the country where you are operating, in order to be compliant with local insurance laws and regulations.  UCOP Risk Services has partnered with a global insurance carrier who has the capabilities to issue a general liability policy in most countries abroad, thereby facilitating and minimizing the administration for UC.

• Are you conducting any clinical trials abroad and being required to provide the insurance coverage for the trial?

If you answer "Yes", UC may be required to procure a Human Clinical Trial liability policy to adhere to the insurance laws and regulations of the country where you are conducting the trial.  Each country has its own compulsory liability insurance requirements for Human Clinical Trials.

Foreign Automobile Liability

• Are you acquiring a long-term leased automobile or purchasing an automobile?

If you answer "Yes", you will need to either purchase the compulsory automobile liability insurance from the automobile leasing company or from a local insurance market.  Automobile liability insurance is compulsory in almost every country and UC and/or you could face severe penalties and fines if you do not purchase this insurance coverage.

Foreign Workers' Compensation & Foreign Employer's Liability

• Are you hiring any local nationals to work for you as an employee?

If you answer "Yes", UCOP Risk Services and our insurance broker, Marsh Risk & Insurance Services, will need to evaluate whether the workers' compensation and employer's liability benefits in the country where you are hiring the employee are part of a government social scheme or require the purchase of an insurance policy.  Workers' compensation is compulsory insurance coverage in most countries, and employer's liability insurance is required in several countries.

• Are you hiring anyone as an "independent contractor"?

If you answer "Yes", you will need to use the same methodology employed in the USA to evaluate the tasks of the "independent contractor" in establish whether this person would be deemed an employee.  If you are unsure of this methodology, you will need to contact UCOP Risk Services.

If you have any questions regarding this coverage or need any assistance regarding insurance issues related to operating abroad, please contact UCR Risk Management .

How to Budget for Open Access Publishing

Open Access Fact Sheet for Researchers Applying for Grants

Preparing Proposal Budget Justifications

Sample Budget Justifications (doc)

QUICK LINKS

• SPA Departmental Assignments
• SPA Staff Directory
• Roles and Responsibilities Matrix
• Proposal Preparation / Submission
• Preaward Administration
• Award Negotiation and Setup
• Post-Award Administration
• Outgoing Subawards
• Clinical Trials
• Data Management Resources
• DOE's Disclosure Requirements for Current & Pending Support
• Ethical and Responsible Conduct of Research
• Export Control
• Foreign Engagement
• Kuali Research
• Material Transfer Agreements
• NASA Restrictions on Funding Activity with China
• NIH Changes to Biosketch and Other Support
• NSF Broader Impacts
• PI and Award Transfers
• Reports (Annual, On Demand)
• Research Administrators INC
• UCR Contracting Guide
• Uniform Guidance
• UC Research Website
• UCOP AB20 Webpage

• Grants and Funding

How to Plan and Write a Budget for Research Grant Proposal

To be a successful candidate for a research grant, you need perfect budget formulation and justification. Here, we will help you plan the research budget for your grant proposal and give you handy tips to transform it into a convincible form.

Budget as a Skeletal Support

Your budget is the skeleton of your grant proposal. It provides the estimated finance your research needs to be completed in a particular time range. It also gives the funders an exact knowledge about where their funds will be used and how will they be financed ( Asya, 2008 ). It is your responsibility to postulate clearly how you will manage the funds if granted. An excellent budget plan will compel your funders to assume that you have thought about every financial detail concerning your project.

Specific Terminologies to Know Beforehand

Certain wordings are preferred to convey your research budget information better. It is important to familiarize with them before constructing the budget section of the proposals. The lexis includes:

Direct Costs

These are the expenses that are utilized solely for executing your research. For example, expenses on your research staff members, tools, materials, and travel finance.

Facilities & Administrative Costs (Indirect Costs)

These are the overhead charges reserved for institutional facilities that you avail yourself while conducting your research. For example, institutional laboratory, electricity, and water usage costs.

Fringe Benefits

These are the additional benefits provided to the personnel, along with their basic salaries. Every institution has its own set of fringe benefits rates.

Research Consortium

It is a group of institutions that apply for a grant together as one. They have reached a grant agreement, and one of the institutions represents them all. The budget is divided between them.

Types of Budget

There are two budget designs used in the NIH grant applications. Specific points will decide the type of budget design form you have to use for your application. These are:

Modular Design Budget

Your budget design is considered modular when your research fulfills the following criteria:

• Your direct costs are equal to or less than $250,000 annually
• You are applying for research grants or their equivalents
• Your institution is located in the United States

Detailed Design Budget

Your budget design should be in detailed form if your research project fulfills any of the below-mentioned criteria:

• Your direct costs are more than $250,000 per annum
• You are applying for grants other than research grant type or its equivalents
• Your institution is situated outside the United States

For the modular design, you have to fill out the PHS 398 modular budget application form, and for the detailed design budget, you have to use the R & R detailed budget application form.

Planning your Budget

Your budget planning starts when you find the research question and decide on a suitable study design. You should also be able to guess the unpredictable charges that can arise while conducting your research ( Sudheesh, Devika & Nethra, 2016 ). There are five main points to keep in mind while planning your research budget:

Pin-point the Budget Essentials

Think about all the things that will affect your research budget. These are mainly the study design, testing procedures, sample collection methods, and research settings. The more complicated and unique these essentials will be, the higher will be your budget requirements. Also, observe the already present resources and will they benefit your research budget.

Follow the Instructions of the Funding Agency

The next point to consider while planning your budget is to abide by the budget rules and limitations of your particular funding agency. Read each instruction carefully and remember not to deviate from it. It is expected of you to provide the exact list of items necessary for your project.

Categorization of Each Item

Thirdly, a breakdown of each item into its related category should be made along with its cost.  A breakdown of the budget item-wise and year-wise with cost calculation should be done. Point out the recurring and nonrecurring items that are directly related to your research. All this planning is done beforehand to ensure proper budget management.

Justification of Each Item

For every enlisted item, you should be able to provide a solid justification for its importance in your research. Only a well-justified budget document can win the confidence of the peer reviewers.

Review & Verification of the Budget Items

Reviewing is the most significant step for every document or proposal. You can ask your team members to review your budget document for you. Also, recalculate the cost of each item and the total items combined cost per annum. Keep in mind that too low or high budget will only raise suspicion in the mind of your reviewers. So, make sure you plan a research budget range, not more than the maximum limit set by your funding agency ( Michael et al., 2019 ).

Scripting your Budget onto the Grant Application

Projecting your finances into your application requires skills. When writing, we primarily divide our budget into two sub-sections. These include:

As mentioned before, these are the direct expenses on which your research is largely dependent. So, firstly, give the heading of direct costs and then further give the following subheadings with explanations.

Personnel Involved

If your research project involves resource team members, here is where you have to mention them. Your resource team includes the technicians, laboratory attendants, site caretakers, data entry personnel, junior researchers, and the senior researcher involved. Specify their allowances and salaries in an organized manner.

Recurring Expenditure

These expenses occur regularly and yet cannot be avoided. These include equipment usage, laboratory-conducted diagnostic tests, telecommunication charges, chemicals, and any other essential items. Fees for human subjects involved in your research are also stated here.

Non-recurring Expenditure

These are the costs of items for which you have to pay one-time charges, and then their use is free. These include buying charges for the printer, computer, or other electronic items. Once you buy them, they are charge-free. Thus, you have to specify all the non-recurring charges in your budget form.

Traveling Expenditure

In this subheading, specify the amount spent on your traveling for research purposes. Separately mention your traveling costs for attending research-related conferences, seminars, and training. Also, mention the travel expenses for the surveys and data collection. Visiting expenses to other institutions for the sake of a research study can also be mentioned here.

Indirect Costs

The second sub-section is indirect expenditure. It includes facilities that are indirectly related to your research project. These can be library facilities, electricity, and water usage for your experiments and test conduction. These are also called overhead charges that are paid specifically to the institution for providing such facilities ( Ahmed & Abdullah, 2017 ).

Budget Overview

In the final paragraph, write a short finalizing note relating your budget outlining the main point. This should be a 4 to 5-lined paragraph.

Budget Justification

Most of the funding agencies separately require justification for each item that you specified in your above-mentioned budget form. This document is also known as the budget narrative page. It reasons the importance of that item for your research conduction. Each item is mentioned in the same order as in your budget form and should be justified respectively ( Al-Jundi & Salah, 2016 ). It is best to make a three-columned table with the name of the item in the first column, the quantity and cost in the second column, and a justification statement in the third column.

Budget Summary

In the last, you have to provide a summarized form of your budget for your proposed research. It is written at the end when you have completed writing your whole application. In this, you have to specify every item with its cost per annum. The non-recurring items will only be specified under the first-year heading as they have a one-time expense. Likewise, the recurring items will be mentioned in both years, along with their costs.

Esthetical Considerations

The following points will enhance the esthetics of your budget section:

Headings & Bullet points

Writing the budget items under a categorized heading will make it easy for the reviewers to retrieve the necessary points in your budget. You can use bullet marks or checklist signs to highlight your main points. This will show the reviewers that you have the budget representation skills and that your enlisted budget finance is authentic.

Tabulations

Try to write your budget essentials in a tabulated form with three main columns. The first column represents the item name. The second column specifies the cost of that particular essential.  The third column signifies the importance of your particular essential in performing your research. This will save both time and effort of reviewers who have to scrutinize many applications at a time.

Organization

The pattern you follow for each essential specification in the budget form should be followed in the same manner while writing the budget justification document. There should be a flow in your budget data and which will further enhance its esthetics.

Elementary Language

Your language should be simple enough to be understood by a common person. Complicated terms and phrases will only make it difficult for reviewers to reach your point of view.

Your budget prepares you for all the financial aids you need to conduct your research. It informs you about the expenses of each research item and method. In this way, you can choose an economical procedure for your research. The budget section is considered as the key factor of success or failure for your proposal. This section requires a skillful approach and should be handled delicately. Nowadays, research writers record their budget in the form of electronic spreadsheets. It is easy to manage the budget essentials and the expenses via these excel spreadsheets. You just need to point out and categorize the direct and indirect costs in the already drawn tabulated budget spreadsheet. Hence, you will be able to plan and compose a well-scripted budget by following the instructions given in this article.

• Al-Riyami, A. (2008, April). How to Prepare a Research Proposal.  Oman Medical Journal ,  23 (2), 66–69. http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3282423
• Duggappa, D.R., Nethra, S.S. & Sudheesh, K. (2016, September). How to Write a Research Proposal?  Indian Journal of Anaesthesia ,  60 (9), 631–634. https://doi.org/10.4103/0019-5049.190617
• Burkhardt, J., Carlson, J.N., Gottlieb, M., King, A.M., Lee, S., Santen, S.A. & Wong, A.H. (2019, January). Show Me the Money: Successfully Obtaining Grant Funding in Medical Education.  The Western Journal of Emergency Medicine ,  20 (1), 71–77. https://doi.org/10.5811/westjem.2018.10.41269
• Al-Maniri, A. & Al-Shukaili, A. (2017). Writing a Research Proposal to the Research Council of Oman.  Oman Medical Journal ,  32 (3), 180–188. https://doi.org/10.5001/omj.2017.35
• Azzam, A. & Sakka, S. (2016, November). Protocol Writing in Clinical Research. Journal of Clinical & Diagnostic Research, 10(11), Z10–Z13. https://doi.org/10.7860/JCDR/2016/21426.8865

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Proposal Budgets

The budget should list all cost details for the year or another appropriate period of time. It should include any applicable salaries & wages, fringe benefits, services, supplies, equipment, publications, travel, other direct expenses, and any facility and administrative costs. A brief outline for developing a budget is included in Michigan Tech's policies and procedures manual .

Sample budgets are available for Michigan Tech researchers in the RD Toolkit .

You can download a budget worksheet (Excel) to help you with this process. Refer to the Guidelines for Budget Development for additional calculation help and information.

Follow these cost considerations when developing your budget:

• Direct Costs — Costs that can be specifically linked to your project.
• Fringe Benefits — Compensation made to an employee beyond the regular benefit of payment for work. Fringe benefits are charged using a negotiated rate approved by the federal government in accordance with Michigan Tech’s fringe benefit rate agreement.
• Indirect costs / F&A / Overhead (these are all the same thing) — Costs that cannot be attributed to a particular project. Examples include utilities, facilities maintenance, library support and general departmental and university administration. These costs are covered in the Current Rate Agreement . Indirect costs may be limited by the sponsor. Be sure to check for this in the solicitation.
• Cost Sharing and Matching — Cash or in-kind support provided by Michigan Tech or a source other than the main sponsor. Cost-sharing or matching can be prohibited or required by the sponsor. Check for this in the solicitation.
• Allowable and Unallowable Costs — Allowable costs can be budgeted and expensed under a sponsored agreement, while some costs are simply unallowable. Cost allowability is determined in accordance with federal guidelines and Michigan Tech policy.
• Subawards / Subcontracts / Vendors — Costs for payment to an organization outside of Michigan Tech to conduct a portion of the sponsored project activity. There are different use cases for these different categories, and with each comes implications in the budget. Subawards and subcontracts have the applicable indirect cost rate applied to the first $25,000. Vendors have indirect cost rate applied on the entire amount. See this Subaward, Consultant, and Service page for more in-depth info.
• Employees / Independent Contractors — Costs for individuals who are not paid with salary lines in the personnel section of the budget. There is a helpful questionnaire to determine whether someone should be paid as an employee or independent contractor .
• Student and Postdoc Support — Costs for supporting students can vary by type of student (undergrad, masters, PhD, postdoc) and by department. See the current rates for tuition, stipends, and salary or hourly wages in the “Resources” section of this page. Supporting students may be limited or required by the sponsor. Check for this in the solicitation.

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Direct & Indirect Costs

You should develop your proposal budget based on your best estimate of the financial support needed to carry out the proposed project. Budgets are composed of the below 2 categories.

• Direct Costs: Costs identified that are specifically associated with a particular project or activity and can be directly assigned to that project or activity with a high degree of accuracy (i.e.: PI effort; Travel Costs; Supplies; etc.)
• Indirect (F&A) Costs: University costs incurred for common or joint objectives that cannot be specifically identified with a particular sponsored project or activities (i.e.: electricity for lab/offices; building maintenance; libraries; administrators; etc.)

Direct Costs:

Personnel costs, salaries & wages.

Include UNT faculty, postdoctoral researchers, graduate and undergraduate students, and other UNT personnel who will be working on the project. Salaries & Wages should be expressed in terms of an annualized effort percentage. Your budget should include the amount of time (% effort) to be spent by each person working on the project. Note: Some sponsors have limits on the amount of time that can be charged to a project. 

Budget Tools for assisting with calculating annualized percent efforts can be found in the Budget section of the GRAMS Pre-Award Training page. 

The Personnel Costs of the budget should only include UNT employees. Do not list non-UNT collaborators under Salaries and Wages. 

Sponsored activities may not result in any employees receiving compensation at a rate in excess of their authorized institutional base salary or academic rate. Additionally, no employee may be scheduled for activities in excess of 100% effort in any given month.

Salaried Graduate Research Assistants (GRA) should be budgeted for based on current Annualized GRA Salary rates which can be found on the GRAMS Pre-Award Training page. Salaried GRAs can be budgeted at half-time (10hrs/week) or full-time (20hrs/week). When budgeting for salaried GRAs, proportional tuition support should also be included for the GRA in the Other Direct Costs section of the budget.

Graduate and Undergraduate students may also be budgeted for in an hourly capacity. For assistance with calculating correct annualized salaries or effort for hourly individuals please use the budgeting tools available on the GRAMS Pre-Award Training page. 

Students may not work more than 20 hours a week when enrolled in courses. In summer sessions, if students are not enrolled in courses a student may be able to work 40 hours a week during that period.

Salary for administrative and clerical personnel are not normally allowable in proposal budgets since these are costs included as indirect costs. However, they may be included as a direct only if they are able to meet the below criteria:

• Administrative/clerical salaries are integral to the project or activity 
• Individual involved can be specifically identified
• Costs are explicitly included in the budget or have prior written approval of the federal awarding agency
• Costs are NOT also recovered as indirect costs

Fringe Benefits

Fringe benefits are a direct cost to a sponsored project, are clearly related to the salaries and wages to be paid, and are shown as a separate entry in the budget. Fringe benefit rates used in UNT proposal budget preparation have been calculated based on historical data. 

An average fringe benefit rate is used to estimate costs. The current rates can be viewed at the   Fringe Benefit Rates Page

Note that the actual costs for fringe benefits are charged (billed) to the sponsored project at the time the costs are incurred. The amount charged is based on salary, selected benefit package, and other variables applicable to the individual employee.

Capital Equipment (Exempt from MTDC)

Equipment means an article of nonexpendable, tangible property having a useful life of more than one year and an acquisition cost of $5,000 or more per acquisition.  

Estimate the cost of equipment using an appropriate cost estimation method such as vendor quotes or catalog prices. Make sure that sales tax, duty, transit insurance, freight, and installation charges are included in the estimated cost.

If equipment (as defined above) will be fabricated during the course of the project, the costs of material components (even if the individual components do not meet the definition of equipment) are exempt from facilities and administrative costs (F&A) and should be listed as equipment costs.

Note that laptops or other computers that do not reach the $5K threshold are not considered equipment for budgetary purposes and should be listed as expendable materials & supplies.

Travel costs should be presented in sufficient detail to determine the reasonableness of such costs. If travel is anticipated, the detailed information for the trip(s) should be provided in the budget justification. Breakout the costs for lodging, airfare, per diem, ground transportation, registration, etc. when possible. State the number of travelers for each trip, length of trip, and destinations (if known). 

Please note: Some sponsors require a high-level of detail to support the cost estimates for travel, including flight and lodging quotes, or estimates based on specific GSA per diem rates. So please be sure you prepare your budget with this in mind and appropriately justify and breakdown these costs in your Budget Justification. 

Foreign travel should be budgeted separately from domestic travel. For current travel policies and rates, refer to the current UNT Travel Guide and information :   

Current GSA per diem and mileage rates can be found online at the following website: http://www.gsa.gov/portal/category/21287 

Other Direct Costs

Materials & supplies.

These are items with a unit cost less than $5,000. Normally, a research project will consume expendable supplies such as laboratory items, computer software, research supplies, animal costs, etc. This category also includes items such as computers, data storage hardware, and other small electronics costing less than $5,000.

Only materials and supplies actually used for the performance of the sponsored project may be charged as direct costs. The PI should be prepared to explain the basis for developing the cost estimate(s) included in the budget.

General office supplies (paper, copies, pens, ink cartridges, etc.) are not normally allowable in budgets (see Uniform Guidance, 2 CFR 200, Subpart E , for more detail). These are costs that are paid for out of UNTs F&A recovery so they may not also be direct‐charged to a grant/contract.

Publication Costs

Publication costs include costs associated with the publication and dissemination of research results. Costs can include printing, distribution, promotion, mailing, general handling, and page charges for professional publications (for current research findings).

Budget the anticipated cost of publishing the results of the research, keeping in mind that page charges may vary from journal to journal. Consider both page charges and reprint costs.

Consultants

Consultants are individuals outside of the university, whose expertise and skills will add value to the project. UNT employees are not included as consultants on a proposal budget. They should instead be included in the Personnel/Salaries section and effort should be included as an annualized percent effort and the cost of their participation must be paid as regular salary with associated fringe benefits included in the cost.

Note: Individuals who have been an employee at UNT or UNT System within the past 12 months are not eligible to be paid as a consultant and must still be paid through the UNT Payroll office and therefore should be included in the Personnel section of the budget.

Normally, consultants are paid a consulting fee plus travel expenses. Whenever possible, identify in the budget the proposed consultant by name, indicate the number of days of work, and rate. Some sponsors may require documentation/letters of support to be included from consultants.

Computer Services

Automatic data processing (ADP) and other computer services can be included as direct costs but must be research-specific services such as reserved computing time, web conferencing, web services and secure storage of project data. Cost for Texas Advanced Computer Center (TACC) services that are available through the DRI’s department of Research Computing Services should be included in this category.

Subrecipients (i.e.: Subawards/Subcontracts)

A subrecipient is a third-party organization performing a portion of a funded sponsored project to carry out a portion of the programmatic work as proposed. PIs preparing budgets that include funds for a subrecipient should include the subaward’s costs (direct and indirect costs) in the budget as a single line item.

The subrecipient institution should provide a statement of work (SOW), a detailed budget, budget justification, F&A Rate Agreement, and a commitment letter signed by the collaborator's authorized institutional representative. Documents should be obtained well in advance of any UNT internal deadlines.

Not all third-party work is considered a subaward and some third-party work is considered vendor or consultant services. To ensure you classify organizations/individuals appropriately, review the Subrecipient vs. Vendor determination page.

Facility User Fees

Facility User Fees for services obtained or for use of equipment may be included in this section of the budget. UNT has various service centers/facilities across campus with set rates for services or facility usage (i.e.: Materials Research Facility ; BioAnalytical Facility ; Genomics Center ).

Participant Support/Trainee Costs (Exempt from MTDC)

Participant support costs (PSC) are direct costs for items such as stipends, subsistence allowances, travel allowances, and registration fees paid to or on behalf of participants or trainees in connection with conferences or training projects. 

A participant is defined as the recipient, not the provider, of a service or training associated with a workshop, conference, seminar, symposium or other short-term instructional or information-sharing activity.  Participants may include students, scholars, scientists from other institutions, individuals from the private sector, teachers, and state or local government personnel. Participants are not employees and are not required to provide any deliverable to the University.

UNT Employees are not eligible to receive participant support.

The intent of participant support is solely to provide direct financial assistance for participants to attend conferences/training events. Unallowable costs include speaker fees, facility rental, and expenses for the PI, project staff or collaborators to attend. 

Costs for hosting the conference or training event should not be included as Participant Support Costs and should be budgeted and charged to other applicable budget categories.  

Payments made to research subjects as an incentive for recruitment or participation in a research project are not Participant Support costs.

Participant Support Costs are excluded from the MTDC base for F&A calculation.

Graduate Student Tuition (Exempt from MTDC)

Tuition Support should be included for salaried GRAs budgeted for in the proposal budget. Tuition amounts budgeted must be commensurate with GRA effort and period on the sponsored project. Additional information regarding can be found in the Guidelines for Charging Graduate Student Tuition Remission on Sponsored Projects . 

Estimates for tuition costs can be generated at the below weblink or consult with department, college, or research administration staff. Some colleges may have standard tuition estimates published on their website that are used for budgeting.

https://estimatemytuition.unt.edu/

Other costs not included in the categories indicated above and that directly benefit the proposed project, can be included in the Other category of the budget. Examples of other costs include, but are not limited to, the below.

• Off-Site Facility Rental: such charges are exempt from F&A recovery
• Research Subject Payments
• Vendor Services
• Animal Care Costs
• Repair and Equipment Maintenance
• Speaker Fees
• Data Management & Sharing Costs

Indirect Costs: 

Facilities and administrative (F&A) costs must be included in proposal budgets unless the sponsor has a written policy or published guidelines on F&A rates applicable to all potential grantees. Sponsor guidelines limiting facilities and administrative costs must be provided as an attachment in your GRAMS proposal to document the F&A rate being used.

Additional information, including UNT’s current F&A rate agreement may be viewed on the Indirect Cost Rates webpage .  

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Top 7 Research Budget Templates with Samples and Examples

Tejas Prasanna

There is no magic formula for creating a research budget. Depending on the kind of research and the potential changes it can bring about, careful planning and allocation is necessary. Budgets can, thus, vary depending on the sponsors, besides other factors. However, every research budget has some essential guidelines. 

Research budgets depend on the project deliverables, timelines, and milestones. The resources required also depend on the scope of the projects and sponsors.

Best Templates for Planning Your Research Budget

Designing a research budget is not easy. You will need to consider the resources required and categorize them according to guidelines to ensure funding is not a problem. The categories may include the project’s necessary supplies and equipment and the wages you must pay your assistants. Research budgets are allocated for a year, but you can also plan for a quarter, depending on the project.

At SlideTeam, we have taken care of all these pain points and designed content-ready presentation templates that address each of these points. You save the time, the resources, and the tedium in having to make these presentations from scratch. 

What is even better is that each of the templates is 100% editable and customizable. The content-ready nature means you get a starting point and a structure to guide your presentation; the editability feature means you can customize the template to audience profile. 

Let’s explore these templates now. 

Template 1 - Impact matrix evaluation research solution budget

This PPT Template is the perfect solution for your research budgeting needs. The matrix suggests what solutions are essential with the help of relevant keys that assign priority levels. Priorities go from low to highest influence with increasing importance. They are color-coded, with white being the lowest and red being the highest influence. For instance, Maintain Awareness and Evaluation are red in many cases, as shown in the slide. So, that means that they bear a significant impact on the research budget. Similarly, Strategic and Budget Planning are color-coded white, which means they don't impact the research budget as much in some cases.

With the impact matrix and heatmap, mapping out your research budget will be a breeze.

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Template 2  Half-yearly research and development departmental budget

Research and Development departments can plan the budget required for projects for the two halves of the year using this PPT Template. The presentation template highlights areas for which you will need funding such as research and development, skills, innovation and patenting, and cooperation. You can also list your requirements for each area. For instance, under R&D and skills, you may need funding for medical research, chemical research, etc. Similarly, for innovation and patenting, you may need funding for product innovation and to cover patenting costs. Likewise, cooperation may involve setting up new laboratories and research centers. With this outlined, you can split the budget required for your research project for the two halves of the year.

Download now!

Template 3 - Budget Estimate for Research and Development Project

This presentation template for the budget estimate for your research and development project is apt for arriving at the calculation for the four quarters in a year. You can define and assign tasks as per the requirements of the project and allocate a set budget for each. The tasks may involve conducting market research and competitive analysis or be innovative or developmental. In either case, you can use this template to set a fixed budget for each task in the research project.

Get it today!

Template 4 Clinical Trial Phases with Communication and Budget Research Design for Clinical Trials

Clinical trials involve many phases, and you should let your research associates know about each step. For instance, you could post the information on the company website and provide relevant insights during the pre-trial phase. Similarly, you can offer the welcome letter and training materials during the trial start-up. During the trial, you can send newsletters to your associates, giving them relevant information and other valuable insights. All this requires funding, and you will need to allocate a budget. However, you don't need to worry, as this PPT Preset has you sorted, with dedicated sections for the pre-trial, trial start-up, during-trial, and trial-end phases. It also has communication, insights summary, and budget sections. You can use the budget section in the matrix to allot a budget for each trial phase and each section, including communication and insights. 

Download here!

Template 5  Market research strategy with budget and area

The PPT Template has all the core elements required for your market research strategy, including the budget and area. This slide lets you list your clients, the items, and when to send them. You can also list background information related to your research, the aim and objectives of the project, the areas covered, and the budget.

The presentation template also provides a dedicated space to list your brands and products and a timeline for completing the research.

Template 6 - Determine Budget for Psychology Research Proposal One-Pager Sample Example Document

This presentation template is an easy-to-use tool for determining the budget required for psychology research. With this slide, you can allocate a budget for each area, including diagnostic assessment, training, technology and tools, supplies, travel, and workforce. It is a practical, hands-on template with information required to plan the budget for conducting psychological tests and evaluations. Please note that depending on your geography, taxes might or might not deserve a separate column.  

Template 7 - Budgeting for Product Launch Market Research

Every company needs to conduct market research before launching a new product. The PowerPoint Presentation that you have here can help you plan the budget required for conducting such market research. It includes necessary information, including business and research objectives, priorities, methodologies, and forecasts. The presentation template also has the metrics required for the research, such as improving customer engagement, introducing new products, and increasing market share. For example, to improve customer engagement, you may be looking to improve marketing approaches and gather customer feedback. The methods you may use include conducting marketing mix studies and tests. Similarly, you may want to optimize your social media posts and profiles and conduct A/B tests when introducing new products. Improving your market share may involve analyzing the competition. You may even use this handy template for conducting market research, estimating, and forecasting budgets.

RESEARCH IS IMPORTANT BUSINESS

You can plan your research and the budget required using these templates. Remember that each new product launch has lots of research behind it. When going for a new launch, don’t just research the products and its uses, but also the markets – particularly, your target audience and how they will benefit from your brands. When allocating the budget for your research, don't forget to note your total resources and try to be as cost-effective as possible. You must consider the expected costs that you may incur and use these templates to work out a research budget that fits within your resources.

FAQs on Research Budget

What should be included in a research budget.

Research budgets should include all direct costs, and facilities and administrative costs (F&A). The facilities and administrative expenses are needed to achieve the primary objectives of the research. The project description should state the proposed budget and serve as a financial expression for the research. The idea is to ensure that the budget is comprehensive.

How do you create a research budget?

You can create a simple research budget by following these steps:

• List activities that will help you carry out the research.
• Check the rules for getting the funding required.
• Check all costs involved.
• Lay out the costs using a spreadsheet.
• Justify your budget by asking why and for what you need the money and where you got your figures.

What is the role of budget in research?

A budget can provide a detailed and clear picture of the structure of the research project, not to mention that it also lets you know how well it can be managed. The research project budget usually lets you see whether it will go according to plan and if it is feasible. So, it must be complete and reasonable.

What is the average budget for a research project?

The budget for a research project depends on the type of research and the proposed difference it could make to a field of study. For instance, the average budget for a market research project may vary between $20,000 and $50,000. Similarly, larger scientific research projects may cost millions or even billions of dollars, as in pharmaceuticals.

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Review information on developing proposal budgets.

Budget Development

Budget approvals, sage budget, proposals to foreign sponsors, budgeting direct costs, salaries and salary considerations, employee benefits, other direct costs.

Facilities & Administrative Costs (F&A)

Subaward Budget Development and F&A Calculations

Budget Justification Cost Share Clinical Trial Budget Resources Animal Research Considerations Human Subjects Research Considerations Environmental Health and Safety (EH&S) Considerations

A budget is a detailed statement outlining estimated project costs that support a sponsored project . It should include all Direct Costs, as well as the calculated Facilities and Administrative (F&A) costs required to carry out the project objectives. The proposal budget should be derived directly from the project description and serves as the financial expression of the project.

Follow sponsor guidelines on requirements, allowability, and format.  Be aware of specific purchase restrictions such as the Telecommunications Purchase Restrictions on federal awards.

Before making purchases with new vendors for procurement purchases under $35k, verify they are not listed within the SAM.gov exclusions list.

Plan for requirements in federal contracts that impact your budget.

Costing principles in GIM 23 and the Uniform Guidance apply to all sponsored programs at UW.

Sponsor and UW budget categories sometimes don’t match. Review UW Budget categories and try to map them to the sponsor categories when preparing your budget.

The System to Administer Grants Electronically (SAGE) is the UW approval routing system for sponsored program proposals. Associated departments review and approve the entire proposal including related budgets via eGC1 forms .

SAGE Budget is the UW recommended tool for preparing proposal budgets and is required at time of award with an Award Setup Request . It provides streamlined, efficient entry with reliable calculations leveraged from institutional data (UW salaries, benefits, and F&A rates).

Budgets created using this tool also provide an easy-to-read summary for reviewers and Principal Investigators. SAGE Budgets can be connected to eGC1s for easy reference, and can also be used in Grant Runner to populate budget data on a federal RR budget form.

For Award Setup or Modification Requests, you are required to attach a SAGE Budget. Review How to set up an award at the UW for more details.

The UW prefers to be paid in U.S. Dollars, not foreign currency. Exchange rates fluctuate on a daily basis. If awarded in foreign currency, the value of sponsor payments can vary throughout the life of an award.

If the sponsor insists the proposal budget be expressed in foreign currency (and will pay in foreign currency), use an online currency converter to calculate the budget amounts on the eGC1 from U.S. dollars (USD) into the sponsor’s currency.

When sponsors make award payments in foreign currencies, the PI and department need to review the award amount and provide a budget using the current exchange rate. This is used to estimate the award amount in USD to set up the sponsored program budget. It is the PI’s responsibility to monitor spending and currency fluctuations closely throughout the award. Whenever converting foreign currency to USD for use in official budget documents, attach a screenshot that shows the date of the currency conversion in SAGE.

Note: The PI and department are responsible for resolving deficits , including those that may arise from currency fluctuation.

• Setup Awards from Foreign Sponsors Made in Foreign Currency
• More information and examples from Grant & Contract Accounting on Awards Paid in Foreign Currency

Cost Allocation

When costs will benefit more than one project, they need to be allocated in proportion to how they will benefit each award. Document the allocation methodology used to budget the cost in your budget justification and in your award file. Make sure that methodology is consistently applied across like circumstances.

Acceptable Allocation Method Examples:

• Number of experiments, hours, clients or employees/FTE on the project
• Square footage

Costs that will only benefit one award should only be budgeted for that award. Costs may not be allocated to more than one project based on budgetary convenience.

Direct costs are expenses specifically associated with a particular sponsored project or activity or that can be directly assigned to that project or activity with a high degree of accuracy (e.g. supplies allocation).

Personnel Salaries and Benefits are typically the largest categories of expenses. Review UW Human Resources compensation information .

• Names and titles of personnel committing effort to this project.
• Effort each will devote to the sponsored activity, expressed as a percentage or calendar/academic months
• Institutional Base Salary (IBS)

Salary costs must be:

• Appropriate for the effort expended
• Consistent with the appointment of the individual
• Supported by documentation of the expense
• Included in the proposal and approved by the sponsor or within re-budgeting authority

Review examples of unallowable direct salary costs on a sponsored program

Compensation for teaching costs unless the sponsored program activity type is for Instruction or Research training, consultation or other non-University activity, excess compensation charges not included in Institutional Base Salary (IBS), and administrative or clerical salaries, unless justified and approved by the sponsor.

Salary Limitations

Some sponsors impose salary limitations, also sometimes known as salary caps e.g.: National Institutes of Health (NIH) salary caps .

Review guidance for Documenting Salary Caps on Proposal Budgets .

Summer Salaries

Faculty with 9-month appointments

• Review UW Summer salary guidance 
• When allowed by sponsors, summer salary should be budgeted as separate line items from academic year salary.

Supplements

Approved supplements are available in the payroll system and reflected in the Institutional Base Salary .

Anticipated Salary Increases

When allowed by the sponsor, these increases should be included in the budget calculation. Increases must be reasonable and justified in the proposal.

• Cost of Living Allowances (COLA) are not set in UW policy. Some sponsors do not allow or impose limits on COLA.
• Classified staff mandatory step increases according to HR compensation guidance .
• Classified staff
• Professional staff

Administrative and Clerical Salaries

Salaries of administrative and clerical staff are normally treated as F&A costs.

Administrative and clerical costs may be proposed as direct costs if all four of these criteria exist:

• Integral to the project or activity,
• Identified specifically with the project or activity,
• Explicitly included in the budget or have prior written approval of Federal awarding agency and,
• Not also recovered as indirect costs.

If these costs are budgeted as direct costs, you must provide justification in the proposal.

Examples of potentially allowable direct charged administrative and clerical staff costs:

• Organizing a conference as a component of a larger project
• Managing travel for a large number of participants
• Organizing large datasets
• Managing complex projects with multiple sites, especially if there are multiple subawards.

If questioned, PI must justify expenses to the sponsor and auditors and will be responsible for paying back any unallowable expenses, if required.

Faculty with Veteran Affairs (VA) Appointments

For faculty who have a VA appointment (up to 40 hours or “8/8th”) and up to a full-time appointment with the UW, use the UW IBS to calculate effort and salary compensation.

Dr. Y has a full-time salary rate of $100,000 has a 50% UW appointment and is requesting 10% salary support. The commitment on the proposal represents 10% of the 50% appointment.

• Salary: 10% of the 50% salary, $5,000 ($100,000 x 50% x 10%)
• Person Months: 10% of 50% time = 0.6 person months.
• Percent Effort: 10% of 50% time, or 5%

Graduate Student Compensation

Graduate student appointments (GSA) are considered full-time at 50% FTE during the academic year and 100% during summer. When including Graduate assistants, budget for salaries, fringe benefits and tuition remission.

Use the average first-year postdoc compensation level in the respective school/college, or in the absence of a policy, consult the UW Academic Resources salary rates and minimums schedule . Budget for full actual costs.

NIH Awards: The maximum amount awarded by NIH for graduate students supported on research grants or cooperative agreements is tied to the zero level National Research Service Award (NRSA) postdoctoral stipend in effect at the time the grant award is issued.

Employee Benefits (i.e., fringe) are a direct cost charged as a percentage of salary. The rates are reviewed and approved by the federal government and apply to all sponsored projects.

Use the active rates for the applicable time period, and use the preliminary/proposed rates (if available) for all future years.

Current and Preliminary Benefit Rates

Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) Costs

Before including APL personnel or locations in your budget, contact the appropriate APL department administrator . They will help ensure all applicable APL Prorated Direct Costs, APL Fixed Fee and budget justifications are included in your proposal budget.

APL’s sole purpose is research, and its operating expenses are an allowable direct cost (2 CFR Part §200.413) on projects where APL personnel or locations are involved. APL operating expenses are recovered through the application of the APL Prorated Direct Costs (PDC) rate.

Personal Service Contracts

Individual people or entities participating in a sponsored program as a non-employee.

Examples include:

• Participation of persons as research subjects
• Implementation of computer systems
• Contracts to conduct and provide survey results, environmental studies, and assessments
• POD training
• Professional consultants

Review a full list of UW personal service categories .

Professional Consultants

Consult sponsor guidance for including consultants in your budget, requirements vary.

Independent contractors, who are:

• Typically experts in the field
• Not UW employees and,
• Don’t have a faculty appointment (e.g. VA, Children’s, etc.)

Include a letter of collaboration with dates of service, rate of pay, other miscellaneous expenses, and deliverables.

Collaborators at other higher education institutions who plan to use institutional resources are considered subrecipients and will need a formal subaward set up.

Review guidance for determining Subrecipient, Vendor, or Consultant?

Participant Support Costs

Direct costs for stipends or subsistence allowances, travel allowances, and registration fees paid to or on behalf of participants or trainees (but not employees) in connection with conferences or training projects.

Participant support costs are allowable if the project includes an education or outreach component, the costs are separately budgeted, and the agency approves the cost. Include the following in budget justification: “The inclusion of the participant support costs in the budget and the subsequent award by the agency will be considered prior agency approval.”

More information from Post Award Fiscal Compliance on Participant Support .

Other Contractual Services

Vendors or Suppliers who provide routine services for a fee , (e.g. Consultant Travel, Advertising, Shipping, Rent, Inpatient and outpatient hospital charges, Laboratory Fees).

Is it a Sponsored Program or a Service?

Subawards/Subcontracts

Review guidance for preparing proposals with subawards and the UW policy for Sponsored Program Subaward Administration . List each subaward separately, using the appropriate subaward object class/spend category. Calculate F&A on subawards following GIM 13 guidelines.

Review subaward budget development and F&A calculations .

What if subrecipient doesn’t have a negotiated rate?

If a prime sponsor has a published F&A rate policy, the subrecipient should propose its F&A in accordance with this policy.

For example, the NIH limits F&A on Grants to Foreign and International Organizations to 8% with a few exceptions.

If the originating sponsor is silent on F&A, the F&A rate subrecipient should use is 10% Modified Total Direct Costs (MTDC).

Include estimated travel costs according to UW travel policies for:

• itemized transportation costs (e.g. airfare, ground transportation, etc.),
• number of days per diem,
• number and estimated cost of trips
• on federal awards, justify how each person’s travel is necessary to the award.
• If the exact location is not known, include the general location.

Most sponsors require that you justify and retain documentation for travel expenses including how they benefit the project.

Review Post Award Fiscal Compliance travel guidance .

International Travel

• Global Operations Support Essential information for travel planning and risk awareness
• Global Travel Information for UW travelers
• Global Research Single Points of Contact
• Review  Export Compliance Measures
• Global Support: Student International Travel Policy

Supplies and Materials

List supplies by major type , (e.g., publication costs, glassware, chemicals). Include the estimated cost of each type and how estimates were calculated, e.g. publications costs: list number of pages and cost per page.

Describe the allocation rationale for supplies and materials between different proposals/awards in your budget justification.

Prior year accounting records or other documentation may be used to support estimates. Retain documentation in your award file.

Considerations for Supplies and Materials

• Food, meals, and refreshments: Awards must specify and allow food purchases if they are included in the budget. Review UW food purchase guidance.
• Office Supplies: generally unallowable as a direct cost under federal awards.
• Review Administrative and Clerical Staff Salary budget preparation guidance .
• Avoid “Miscellaneous” and “Contingency” categories.
• Genomic Assays (GA) are budgeted as supply costs, however, NIH only pays F&A on the first $50,000 of GA costs each year.
• NIH Policy Statement – F&A Costs .

Review your sponsor guidelines on equipment fabrication, rental or purchases. Review Equipment Inventory Office guidance on Government Furnished Equipment .

The UW Equipment capitalization threshold is $5000. Equipment is excluded from F&A.

Purchasing Equipment

• If equipment needs are not definite, probable choices may be listed on a separate sheet and an estimated total shown on the budget page.
• Include related costs like shipping and insurance in the equipment costs if allowed by your sponsor.
• Sales Tax Exemption – Equipment purchased may qualify for the Machinery and Equipment Tax Exemption or “M&E Exemption”.

Review more information from the Equipment Inventory Office on Acquisitions .

Equipment Fabrication

Describe the equipment that will be fabricated along with a list of items that go into fabrication (e.g. materials, cost center services, salary, etc.). Review Equipment Inventory Office information on Fabrication . F&A is not applied on costs involved in fabricating equipment unless the equipment will be transferred to the sponsor or external entity for use at the end of the project.

Equipment Rental

Each piece of rented equipment should be listed by type, model number, and manufacturer along with the current rental rate of each item. Equipment rental is considered a “service” charge and F&A should be calculated.

Include associated tuition charges for graduate students employed in a 50% FTE appointment for full payroll quarters. Review Current Tuition and Fees from the Office of Planning and Budgeting. Tuition costs are exempt from F&A.

Facilities and Administrative Costs (F&A)

F&A costs are expenses that cannot be specifically identified with a particular project or activity. Also known as “indirect costs” or “overhead,” these costs are for buildings, utilities, services of administrative offices such as purchasing, accounting, payroll, and personnel offices, and other expenses necessary for operations of the institution. Review GIM 13 for more information.

What you need to know to select the correct F&A rate:

• How to Determine the Correct Rate
• Policy Circumstances
• Activity Types
• Activity Locations

Multiple Locations

• If using SAGE Budget for proposal development, create a separate SAGE Budget Worksheet for each subaward
• Each subaward budget should include its direct and F&A costs
• Indicate each subawards in the UW budget using the appropriate subaward object class / spend category.
• Calculate UW F&A on the first $25,000 of each subawards total costs

Review Environmental Health and Safety (EH&S) Services covered under F&A costs

F&A WAIVER

In limited situations, the Director of Sponsored Programs may waive F&A. To request a waiver, include the completed F&A waiver form , signed by the PI with Dean and Chair concurrence, in the eGC1 with your proposal materials to the Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) .

The University does not waive F&A for for-profit entities.

Budget Justification

Budget Justifications are sometimes called budget narratives or budget details and are an important part of the review process (internally and externally) and details how the sponsor’s funds will be spent. Justify budget costs in detail according to the sponsor instructions. Sponsor scientific reviewers may do a preliminary cost analysis using the budget justification to determine if the science justifies the budgeted cost.

Review the budget justification primer for examples.

Explain estimates or unusual circumstances in your budget justification. Retain supporting documentation, rationales, and sources for estimates, allocation or unusual circumstances along with vendor catalogs or written quotes as support documentation in your local award file.

Example estimation tools, methods, and resources include:

• SAGE Budget Module
• Payroll system
• Anticipated merit increase
• Cost of living increase
• Travel per diems and other travel cost information
• State, federal and international tax information
• Vendor and supplier purchasing
• Relevant University policy information such as GIM 13 – F&A Rate Agreement or GIM 35 – Institutional Based Salary etc.
• Approved & preliminary fringe benefit rates
• Sponsor policy
• Federal guidelines

If a sponsor does not allow certain costs as a direct cost, they may not be included in the budget.

For example, administrative/clerical costs are not allowed as a direct cost on a federal grant. If you believe your program qualifies for an exception, you must describe how the four criteria for direct charging administrative/clerical costs are met.

OSP’s approval of the eGC1 or the sponsor making an award based on your proposal where the criteria for direct charging administrative/clerical costs were met, does not mean those costs cannot be questioned later.

Cost share is the costs of a sponsored project that the sponsor does NOT pay for.

A sponsor can require cost share and must state this requirement in the funding opportunity. A cost share commitment also occurs when a proposal includes allowable expenses or quantifiable contributions that will not be charged to the sponsor (e.g. effort level of personnel listed with no commensurate request for salary).

Cost share is not expected by federal sponsors if the agency does not include a cost share requirement in the funding opportunity. When not mandatory, the inclusion of a cost share commitment may not be used as a factor in merit review. Voluntary cost share, therefore, should not be presented in the proposal.

Cost sharing is discouraged and leads to:

• lower Facilities and Administrative (F&A) rates,
• increased administrative burden,
• redirection of University resources from other University activities.

When cost share is submitted in a proposal and accepted by the sponsor it becomes a binding commitment. The department/PI is required to provide, monitor and report on the committed resources during the project.

Sponsor approval is required to claim waived F&A as cost share . When direct costs are contributed as cost share, the associated F&A is also considered cost share.

Approvals from other UW units contributing cost share must be on the eGC1 or otherwise documented.

Clinical Trial Budget Resources

• Clinical Trials Office (CTO)
• Clinical Research Handbook
• Industry Clinical Trials

Animal Research Considerations

Costs and budget issues to consider include:

• Animal housing costs ( per diems )
• Special lab equipment, specialized housing arrangements, or specialized services
• Timing considerations: approvals prior to animal acquisition, quarantine, training requirements

The following services are covered under F&A costs:

• Training in animal use and handling
• Protocol review
• Grant/protocol congruence review
• Protocol development assistance
• Standard veterinary care
• Standard animal husbandry

Human Subjects Research Considerations

Consider whether you will need to hire staff, or contract with UW’s Institute for Translational Health Services (ITHS)  for staff. Decide whether you will need a staff person to serve as an Institutional Review Board (IRB) liaison because the UW will be the lead for collaborative or multi-site research that is being reviewed by a single IRB.

At all times, it is the PI’s responsibility to ensure all trainees or center activities involving human subjects are carried out under an approved IRB study number.

Subject payment or reimbursement

Include any subject payments or reimbursement of subjects’ expenses. If subjects’ health insurance will be charged for research-related clinical items and services; consider whether the grant will pay for co-pays and deductibles.

IRB review fees

The UW IRBs do not currently charge review fees though this may change for the review of non-UW sites. However, if the research will be reviewed by a non-UW (external) IRB, the external IRB may charge fees. You may need to include IRB review fees in the budget in the following situations:

• The UW is the lead site for collaborative or multi-site research and a non-UW single IRB will be used for all sites or institutions involved in the research. For NIH grants, see this NIH Guidance . HSD can also provide guidance on how to identify and estimate costs.
• The study is industry-initiated and industry-funded and the sponsor will not pay the fees directly.

Human Subjects Division (HSD) administrative fee

If your research is industry-initiated and industry-funded, you must send the study to an independent IRB (for example WCG IRB or Advarra) for IRB approval instead of the UW IRB. The industry sponsor will pay the IRB review fees charged by the independent IRB, but they are also required to pay HSD an administrative fee. This administrative fee should be included in your budget. See HSD’s information on the HSD Administrative Fee .

Emergency medicine research

Emergency medicine research that requires the special Exception to Informed Consent must conduct community consultation before beginning the study, which requires funds. Consult with HSD for guidance about appropriate activities, based on the nature of the research intervention and the study population. It almost always involves more than public service announcements, news releases and bus placards.

Interpretation and translation

Federal nondiscrimination laws require clinical trials to allow interested and eligible subjects to participate even if they do not speak English. This means that researchers should develop a plan for how translation and interpretation will be provided for interested and eligible subjects. For studies that may have small numbers of these subjects, this may best be handled by including in the budget the cost of retaining an interpretation and translation service that can be called upon as needed.

Environmental Health and Safety (EH&S) Considerations

If your project includes hazardous materials review the following considerations.

Take into account costing allocation of materials. Review GIM 23 – Distribution of Costs Across Two or More Sponsored Programs and guidance from Post Award Fiscal Compliance on cost allocation .

• Use the Laboratory PPE Assessment Guide to determine the type of personal protective equipment (PPE) needed.
• Use the Job Hazard Analysis tool to determine required controls to mitigate risk.
• Estimate the cost of ordering PPE and first aid kit through UW Procurement .
• Determine the need for chemical spill kit or mercury spill kit .
• Use the Occupational Health Recommendation . provided by the EH&S Employee Health Center  to determine costs for vaccinations and medical surveillance.
• Work with Environmental Health and Safety to accurately calculate and plan for the cost of disposal of biohazardous , chemical , radioactive , and other hazardous waste.

EH&S Services covered under F&A costs

• Training (except First Aid)
• Chemical waste collection and disposal
• Health and safety surveys and monitoring
• Assistance meeting health and safety requirements of grant proposals
• Radiation use authorizations
• Radiation dosimetry and bioassay
• Fire prevention services
• Fume hood testing
• Central SDS library and inventory system
• Indoor Air Quality Investigations
• Occupational exposure assessments
• Respiratory fit-testing
• Hazardous material spill management advice and consultation

EH&S Services not covered under F&A costs

• Radioactive Waste Disposal • Calibration of radiation detection instruments

Forms, Tools, and Resources

• F&A Waiver Request
• Sample Budget Justification
• Academic HR: Supplements and Summer Salary
• GUIDE: SAGE Budget
• Institutional Facts & Rates
• Budget Justification Primer
• PAFC: Proposal Costs
• SAGE: Accessing SAGE
• GCA: Cost Share
• PAFC: Cost Allocation
• PAFC: Requirements to Direct Bill F&A Costs
• Cost of Single IRB Review
• NSF: Sections of an NSF Proposal, The Budget: Part 1
• Subrecipient, Contractor/Vendor, Consultant?
• Grants.gov: Tips for Writing a Budget Narrative
• NIH: Selecting Correct Budget Format

Policy, Regulation, and Guidance

• GIM 35 – Effort Reporting Policy for Sponsored Agreements
• GIM 23 – Sponsored Program Costing Policy
• GIM 21 – Cost Share on Sponsored Programs
• GIM 13 – Facilities and Administrative (F&A) Rates
• GIM 03 – Fringe Benefit Rates and Sponsored Projects
• Guidelines for Collaborative Research Sharing RCR
• Best Practices for Coordination and Set-up of Cost-Shares for Collaborative…
• Travel Office: Travel Policies and Procedures
• National Research Service Award (NRSA) Postdoctoral Stipend
• CORE: Introduction to Sponsored Project Budgets
• CORE: SAGE Budget
• CORE: Direct Billing of F&A Type Costs

Announcements

• How do I document salary cap on proposal budgets?
• How do I handle F&A for charter vessels?
• Is my proposal budget the same as my award budget…
• What are some things to know about budgeting for the…
• Which single F&A rate applies when the Primate Center is…
• Who, What, Why – Searching SAM.gov

University of Washington Office of Research

Or support offices.

• Human Subjects Division (HSD)
• Office of Animal Welfare (OAW)
• Office of Research (OR)
• Office of Research Information Services (ORIS)
• Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP)

OR Research Units

• Applied Physics Laboratory (APL-UW)
• WA National Primate Research Center (WaNPRC)

Research Partner Offices

• Corporate and Foundation Relations (CFR)
• Enivronmental Health and Safety (EH&S)
• Grant and Contract Accounting (GCA)
• Institute of Translational Health Sciences (ITHS)
• Management Accounting and Analysis (MAA)
• Post Award Fiscal Compliance (PAFC)

Collaboration

• Centers and Institutes
• Collaborative Proposal Development Resources
• Research Fact Sheet
• Research Annual Report
• Stats and Rankings
• Honors and Awards
• Office of Research

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• Departments and Institutes
• Research centres and groups
• Chair's Blog: Summer Term 2022
• Staff wellbeing

Compile a research budget

Get started with your grant application budget plan..

TOP TIP: Each call has different guidelines for what may or may not be included within the budget for your project. Read your call guidelines carefully.

Where to start

Research Design = List resources that you need to conduct the project. Include your time, staff and non-staff resources such as field work, travel, research assistance or software.

Decide on a start date and project duration = The project start date (if your application is awarded) will depend on when you plan to submit your application and the assessment cycle of the funding body.

Consider the time required to recruit staff = If applicable, do you need staff at the start of your awarded project?

Devise a realistic budget plan according to the funder’s requirements and LSE’s financial regulations. Your Research Development Manager will help you compile your budget.

Contact us to compile your budget

Email your  Research Development Manager .

8 costs to examine when preparing your project budget:

1. staff salaries.

Staff salaries are often the largest cost of the budget.

Allocate enough money for staffing costs and think about what staff roles the project requires.

How do I determine which level is appropriate?

Consider the amount of time you wish to spend on the project as well as the amount of research assistance and expertise required.

You may need administrative support if you plan on sending out a large number of questionnaires and have a lot of data entry to do. If the study is complex, you may want a senior research fellow with previous experience. It will cost more but it will be an expense worth paying for.

View research staff role profiles

View salary scales

Extra staff costs

In addition, there will be extra costs to include, such as:

• recruitment advertising 
• redundancy expenses
• pension costs
• national insurance contributions

Named staff

Follow School procedures for including named staff in proposals. If you have a specific person in mind, contact your Research Development Manager .

Check local practice with your Department/Centre Manager as additional procedures on staffing salary levels may apply.

2. Indirect costs

Indirect costs can include:

• estates costs and institutional overheads
• the cost of using an office
• facilities such as HR, IT support and library services

Often a funding body will only pay a contribution towards these. Research and Innovation will calculate these costs based on a standard full economic costing.

To add these costs to your budget, email the  Research Development Team . 

3. Equipment

This could include items such as a digital recorder or a laptop for carrying out field work.

Some equipment may not be eligible depending on the funder’s regulations.

For example, the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) will normally expect a computer to be provided by the host institution. 

There are some exceptions - funding may be considered if a standard computer is not adequate for processing vast amounts of data.

Justify equipment explicitly in your proposal.  Contact us for further advice.

4. Consumables

Examples of standard project running costs include:

• printed brochures for dissemination events
• tea, coffee, lunch for meetings etc.
• postage and stationery
• photocopying
• computer supplies (toner)

5. Travel and subsistence

A project may require travel costs to allow you to:

• carry out field work
• attend a conference
• present findings for dissemination purposes
• meet co-investigators working on the project

Example travel costs

Estimate your budget with LSE's example cost guidelines .

Calculate travel rates  to cover the cost of subsistence and accommodation as well as flights and train costs. 

Some funding bodies have set criteria of what they are prepared to cover and may apply funding caps. For example, no business class flights; economy travel only.

Tell your  Research Development Manager :

• total number of trips needed
• number of people who need to travel
• year in which each trip will be taken 

6. Justification of resources

A common component of a project is the ‘justification of costs’, sometimes referred to as ‘resource allocation’. It's essential to spend time making this section clear. 

Expensive items

If an expensive item of equipment is crucial for the project, state how it will be used and why alternative options are not viable.

Staff costs

The same rule applies for the inclusion of those people who have specialised expertise – please state:

• what these staff will be doing
• why less costly options are not viable

Discuss your costs with the Research Development Team .

7. Research Grants Policy (formerly Research Incentives Policy) 

The Research Grants Policy provides financial rewards for staff who win research funding – to enhance their salaries, to buy out their time from teaching and/or to provide unencumbered research funding – and research funding for the departments and research centres which host them. 

It came into full effect from 1 August 2021 and applies partially to awards falling prior to this date but after the suspension of its predecessor, the Research Incentives Policy, in June 2020. View the Research Grants Policy

The Research Incentives Policy was suspended in June 2020 and remains active only for eligible legacy projects. It has been replaced by the Research Grants Policy. View the Research Incentives Policy

8. Ineligible costs

Each call has different guidelines for what may or may not be included within the budget for your project. 

Read call guidelines. If in doubt, check details with your Research Development Manager in the Research Development Team.

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Research Proposal Budget

Research proposal budget: get an accurate estimate for your research plan. research proposal budget: get a comprehensive overview of what’s required for a research proposal budget. learn how to accurately calculate and allocate funds for each project, and get tips for preparing a realistic and effective budget..

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Template Information

• Released Aug 02, 2023
• Updated Aug 15, 2024
• File Type Microsoft Excel
• Demo Video No
• File Size 41.13 KB
• File SKU 0261
• Tags Research , Proposal , Financing , Costs , Funds , Allocation , budgeting , Funding , Sources , Expenditures

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Ankita Potdukhe

Research proposal budget description, research proposal budget template.

The research proposal budget template is a valuable resource for researchers when preparing to submit a research proposal. This template provides a structure for creating a comprehensive budget for the proposed research project. It includes sections for personnel, supplies, equipment, and other costs associated with the project. The template also allows for the addition of any special costs that may be required for the project.

The template begins by asking for basic project information such as the title, start and end dates, and the type of funding sought. This information helps the researcher to create a complete budget, as it allows the researcher to plan for the project in the most cost-effective way. The template then moves into the budget breakdown section. Here, the researcher can list all of the personnel costs associated with the project, including salaries, wages, and benefits.

The next section of the template covers the costs for supplies and equipment. This includes items such as laboratory supplies, software, and hardware. It also includes any special equipment that may be necessary for the project. Finally, the template includes a section for any other costs associated with the project, such as travel, publication fees, and conference attendance fees.

Once the budget has been created, the researcher can use the template to review the budget and make any necessary adjustments. This is a great way to ensure that the project is being completed in the most cost-effective manner possible. Additionally, the template can be used to create a detailed report of the budget, which can be used to show prospective funders the amount of money that will be needed to complete the project.

The research proposal budget template is an invaluable tool for researchers. It provides a clear structure for creating a budget and allows the researcher to review the budget and make any necessary changes. This helps to ensure that the project is being completed in the most cost-effective manner possible. Additionally, the template can be used to create a detailed report of the budget, which can be used to show funders the amount of money that is needed to complete the project.

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• Vice Chancellor for Research and Creative Activities

Research Enhancement Office

Institute of transportation studies (uc its): 2023 request for proposals.

The UC Institute of Transportation Studies (UC ITS) receives funding from the State of California through the Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017 (SB 1) to support research, education, and outreach activities that address and inform transportation policy, planning, and engineering issues in California.

This Request for Proposals (RFP) will award approximately $2.7 million from the UC ITS SB 1 allocation to support research across UC Berkeley, UC Davis, UC Irvine, and UCLA.

• Go to Application Homepage

Award Amount and Details

Please visit the application homepage for expected annual award range details. 

Deadlines and Date Information

Proposals are due by Friday, May 31, 2024, at 5:00 PM PDT . 

In addition, UC ITS Equity Research Manager Adonia Lugo is hosting three virtual, drop-in Equity Workshops and Consultations to support applicants interested in enhancing equity considerations in their research proposal, identifying community partners, and more. Registration is not required. The Zoom link for all three meetings, and meeting dates are below.

Zoom Link: ucla.zoom.us/j/96800850811?pwd=SWFESVpEOERYN1ZoaUx6ZUszTkprQT09

• Thursday, May 2, 2024 - 11:00 AM PT
• Friday, May 3, 2024 - 1:00 PM PT

You may use this online form to submit questions concerning this RFP, including questions related to preparing project budgets, eligibility, and other topics. You may also use this form to request assistance with identifying a public agency or community-based organization for your project or to request an equity consultation.

Eligibility Information

• Lead applicants include anyone eligible to serve as a Principal Investigator (PI) at UCLA.
• Other researchers, graduate students, and undergraduate students can be included in the proposal with her/his/their salary covered in place of the PI’s in part or in whole; however, the PI remains responsible for the project.
• Researchers from other university systems, the public sector, and/or for-profit private sector are not eligible for funding through this RFP. Exceptions may be approved if special circumstances warranting the exception are fully explained in the proposal.
• PIs who have outstanding deliverables for previously awarded UC ITS projects are not eligible to apply unless all outstanding deliverables are submitted and approved prior to the proposal deadline for this RFP.
• Those with projects funded in the FY 2023-24 UC ITS RFP cycle are eligible to apply; however, all deliverables from these projects must be completed before FY 2024-25 funds are disbursed.

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