Budget Guidelines
Enter the costs on the budget template and on a separate sheet justify each budget item. Be as specific as possible, listing each travel site, pieces of equipment, services, etc. Justification for each budget item should answer the question: “Why is this specific person/item necessary for the proposed project?” See categories of support for allowable and unallowable costs.
A. Salaries and Wages
List all personnel, including the names, and roles that will be devoted to the project.
Personnel
- Graduate Research Assistants. If the project requires a greater level of expertise than hourly student labor, you may request funds for a graduate research assistantship. The maximum summer salary you may request, at all levels, is $2,000. Be sure to add in fringe benefits. Please note that the Guidelines for Charging of Graduate Tuition to Grants is not applicable to Internal Funding Opportunities. Refer to the graduate web site for detailed information on graduate education and levels of experiences.
- Student Labor. Student labor is paid on an hourly basis, plus fringe benefits. Please refer to the student employment web site for levels of experience and compensation.
- Post Docs. Post Doc stipends should follow the NIH NRSA stipend levels which can be found at NIH Notice NOT-OD-12-033.
- Summer Fellowships. Faculty members on nine-month appointments may receive salary during the summer months. A maximum of $3,000 (plus fringe) may be requested for single PI proposals and $5000 (plus fringe) for multi-PI proposals. Faculty may receive only one award of this type (i.e., faculty listed as Co-PI on multiple proposals can only receive one summer award). In addition, for multi-PI proposals, the maximum summer fellowship allowed for any individual faculty member is $3000. The request for funds must be carefully justified. The NIH guidelines for salary limitation should be adhered to when factoring in summer salary.
- Adjuncts. Course buyout may be requested and capped at $5000, but the PI must explain why release time is so vital to the project. In addition, the buyout rate will be the “internal” buyout rate (as specified in the AAUP collective bargaining agreement) paid for an adjunct and not a percent of salary.
B. Fringe Benefits
The fringe benefit rate should reflect the current rate schedule for the employment category being proposal. Please refer to the Fringe Benefit Rates.
C. Equipment
Equipment is defined as tangible, non-expendable, personal property having an anticipated life of one year or more with a unit acquisition cost of $5,000 or greater. Equipment includes, but is not limited to, furnishings, scientific apparatus, machinery, library volumes, artwork, motor vehicles, boats and livestock. You will need to identify the individual pieces of equipment requested, the importance to the project, and why existing equipment does not suffice. Please include price quotation(s) from the vendor. Although matching funds are not required, such matches are strongly recommended when the cost of the equipment exceeds $5,000. Valid documentation of any match must be included. For more information see equipment definitions on the Accounting web site.
D. Travel (Transportation and Per Diem)
Include any travel that is necessary to conduct the research; not travel to present the results of research or travel to explore future funding opportunities. Travel costs are classified as those expenses for transportation, lodging, subsistence and related items incurred by employees who are traveling on official University business. Domestic and foreign travel should be separately identified. Domestic travel is considered to be travel among any of the 50 United States, its possessions and territories, and Canada. Foreign travel is classified as travel outside these areas. Travel justification should include who is traveling, where, the purpose of the trip, the number of trips, the costs for the air fare, per diem, lodging, car rental and other costs associated with the travel. Per diem may be included. Generally, the following will be considered: up to $750 for a research trip away from campus less than 3 months, and $1,500 for a research trip more than 3 months. Amounts other than stated in the guidelines maybe considered depending on the need and availability of funds. For further information on travel procedures and process see the travel web site.
E. Other Direct Costs
Include other costs necessary to conduct the research.
- Materials & Supplies. Materials & Supplies are any consumable item having an acquisition unit cost of less than $1,000. These costs should be project-specific, reasonable and based on actual or historical use. It is not necessary to break down each individual item, but a general description and amount by general classification should be provided (e.g. glassware, test tubes, or chemicals).
- Participant Support Costs. Indicate incentives, travel, and other subsistence costs necessary for the project.
- Animals/Animal Care. Animal costs should reflect the type of animal, the number of animals and the unit cost per animal. Per Diem costs should list the number of days of Per Diem. Please refer to OAC for per diem rates.
- Contractual Services. Explain and justify all fees and charges for specialized services, such as library access fees, laboratory analysis fees, consultant fees, subject fees, etc.
F. Unallowable Costs
The following items cannot be requested: clerical or administrative personnel salaries, including personnel whose primary purpose is to explore funding sources and/or prepare grant applications; service/maintenance contracts on equipment; laboratory renovations, or other infrastructure renovations; institutional memberships in professional organizations; travel to professional meetings to present the results of the research; travel to explore extramural funding opportunities; costs associated with the publication of results of the research, including page charges, purchase of reprints, or journal costs.