Proposal Submission: Budgets
Budgets
Crafting a budget is an important component of grant applications. SOMOGC provides downloadable templates for budget development. Budgets and justifications along all other required documents must be submitted to SOMOGC within 5 business days of the grant proposal's due date in accordance with the SOMOGC Timely Submission Policy.
The primary components of a budget include:
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Direct costs
- These include personnel services and other than personnel services (OTPS).
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Indirect costs (i.e., Facilities and Administrative Costs, or F&A. More information about current and historical F&A rates can be found here.)
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F&A
costs represent the recovery of both Facilities and Administrative costs incurred to support the sponsored program activity. For example, these costs may be used to support the University buildings and administrative staff salaries that support the grant activities.
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Budget justification
- The budget justification details the reasoning behind each budget item. For instance, personnel should be outlined with their effort, salary, fringe benefits, and contribution to the proposed project. Remaining budget categories, such as supplies and patient care costs, should be described with a proper understanding of how much each item reasonably costs. A budget with well-justified costs can demonstrate to sponsors that the project was reasonably conceived and that actual costs are properly understood.
Some helpful tips when getting started:
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Carefully read the Request for Application (RFA) or Program Announcement (PA) for budget-related information, such as the maximum direct costs allowed and whether indirect cost rates are limited.
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Discuss a plan for the budget with the PI. For instance, ask whether it will be a multi-PI project, who the co-investigator(s) may be, as well as the other staff that may participate on the project.
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Ensure that the correct F&A and fringe benefit rates are used during budget creation. Up-to-date budgetary information about F&A rates, fringe benefit rates, the NIH salary cap, and graduate student support rates may be found here.
- A useful resource to locate salaries is the Institutional Base Salary page of the Research Administration Dashboard. Salaries can be comprised of funds from the Academic and Medical (UPG) sides of UVA. It is imperative to use one's entire Institutional Base Salary (the combination of all sources of salary at UVA) for budgets
Budgets for NIH-Funded Proposals
There are two types of budget formats used for NIH-funded grants: modular budgets and detailed budgets. In general, detailed budgets are used for proposals applying for more than $250,000 per budget period in direct costs, whereas modular budgets are used if applying for less than $250,000 across all budget periods. However, certain grant mechanisms will specify the type of budget required, so it is important to refer to the budget instructions in the FOA in order to ensure that the correct budget format is used. For more detailed information, see the NIH website.
Regardless of whether a modular or detailed budget is required, all NIH budgets include salary caps, which is the maximum amount NIH will pay toward individual personnel on a proposal. Current and historical salary cap information may be found here.
Modified total direct costs (MTDC) are the total direct costs on which F&A can be charged. MTDC include all direct salaries and wages, applicable fringe benefits, materials and supplies, services, travel, and up to the first $25,000 of each subaward.
The following costs must be excluded from MTDC: capital equipment, capital expenditures, patient care costs, rental costs, tuition remission, scholarships and fellowships, participant/trainee support costs(not commonly used and the FOA will generally specify state that funding is for participants/trainees ), and subaward costs above the initial $25,000 (for entire competitive cycle).
Modular Budgets
The modular budget allows for a maximum request of $250,000 per year in direct costs in modules of $25,000. F&A is not included in the $250,000 total. You only need a personnel justification for this type of proposal. A modular budget is required for R21 proposals. This type of budget is also sometimes used for R01 proposals.
Detailed Budgets
The detailed budget, which is used for most NIH applications, utilizes the R&R Budget Form. A full detailed budget justification is needed for this type of proposal.
If over $499,999 in direct costs for any budget period is requested, prior approval from NIH must be obtained no later than 6 weeks prior to the submission due date. A cover letter indicating approval must be uploaded to the application in ASSIST. Subaward F&A costs are not included when calculating the total direct cost limit. This is called an ARA (Awaiting Receipt and Referral) Request.
If the proposal involves a subaward, the R&R Budget Form for Subawards must also be used.
Please request that subawards send their budgets to you in R&R format. Subawards are also required to complete a budget justification. A Consortium Commitment Form, detailing all required paperwork from subawards, including additional items such as Biosketches and a Statement of Work, can be found here. The form and additional paperwork must be returned to you to meet SOMOGC's internal administrative deadline.
Budgets for Clinical Trials
Research pricing for clinical trials can be found here. You are able to search for research costs by CPT code or procedure description.
Clinical trial budgets capture patient care costs, which are exempt from F&A recovery. Patient care costs include any inpatient or outpatient services provided to participants as part of the clinical trial. These costs do not include human subject payments for travel reimbursement; they are limited to the procedural costs associated with the trial.
For information and assistance regarding Clinical trial budgeting use this website. Additional information about the SOM Clinical Trials Office can be found here. Information pertaining to the process of submitting a clinical trial proposal may be found here.
Non-Federally Funded Budget Tips
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F&A rates may differ from our federally-negotiated rate. Sometimes a sponsor will limit F&A recovery or even do not allow F&A to be collected at all, so it is important to pay attention to the budgeting guidelines outlined in the funding announcement.
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Determine whether the sponsor limits certain indirect costs.
- Look for any exceptions when calculating the MTDC Base. For example, a federal grant may require you to deduct consortium costs over $25,000 to arrive at your MTDC Base; however, these federal guidelines may not apply to non-federal grant budgeting. (link to rate agreement)
- If the sponsor limits indirects costs, this will need to be documented in the ePRF.
- The indirect rate should only be reduced below the current negotiated rate IF the sponsor requires this. If this requirement is not documented a F&A waiver should be requested through the SOM Senior Associate Dean of Research.
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Proposal Submission: Budgets