Guidelines for Budget Proposal Preparation
JOINT COUNCIL OFFICE (JCO)
GUIDELINES FOR BUDGET PROPOSAL PREPARATION
(Full Research & Exploratory Grants)
Joint Council Office
1 Fusionopolis Way
#21-10 Connexis
Singapore 138632
Tel: (65) 68266 356
Fax: (65) 6478 9587
E-mail:
NOTES ON THE BUDGET PROPOSAL
1Each proposal must contain a budget for each year of support and a cumulative budget for the duration of the project.Breakdown of the budget by participating RIs by year must be shown.Please note that virements of funds (of any amount) across RIs should not be made without the prior written consent of A*STAR. Please refer to the application form for the fund quantum of each grant category.
2The budget must identify and itemise direct costs associated with each line item.Expenditures should be budgeted inclusive of any Goods & Services Tax payable.If there is already existing collaboration in the area proposed in theapplication, please provide details of the origin of the fund support and why this fund could not be used for the proposal.
3Present a detailed case for the resources required, showing what alternatives have been considered and rejected, and provide a cost-benefit appraisal where appropriate.
4Any direct cost charged to a JCOgrant award must be reasonable and directly allocable to the supported activity. The four budget line items are:
5Expenditure on Manpower (EOM)
5.1The EOM budget should not exceed 70% of the total grant amount.
5.2EOM may include salaries and allowances of all research staff employed by A*STAR, including PIs, research fellows, research assistants and laboratory technicians.
5.3JCO will support a pro-rated EOM cost with the staff’s employing organisation according to the percentage of time committed to the project. This support can be used for both new hires as well as existing staff. The award should not augment the salaries of staff already supported by the employing organisation or other sources of funding.
5.4Each positionmust be clearly identified and the budget must reflect prevailing organisational practice for salaries and allowances.
5.5For manpower costs, justify the type and level of all staff appointments and the duration of employment. Please consult your employing organisation for the prevailing terms and conditions.
5.6You are advised to budget for annual increments, National Service increments, staff welfare, medical, commuted leave pay and other related manpower costs required for the entire project life. Please consult your employing organisation forthe prevailing rates.
5.7Research staff who are supported fully or partially by the JCO grant must declare their time commitment in a declaration form which will be sent with the Letter of Award. It is the responsibility of the Project Director to promptly seekJCO’s approval on any changes to the research personnel.
5.8The manpower costs will cover salaries as well as relocation costs. Salary is inclusive of basic salary, CPF, bonuses (including 13th month) andbenefits (flex, dental, insurance). For foreign researchers whose employment term includes housing and education allowance, these items may be pro-rated and included in the manpower cost. However, due to the payment of gratuity only at the end of the employment contract, expenses related to gratuity will not be covered by the JCO grant. Relocation cost is applicable only to new foreign hires to the JCO project and is prorated based on the percentage effort within the JCO project. Itcomprises air-passage, transit allowance and settling-in allowance..
- Equipment
6.1.The Equipment budget should not exceed 10% of the total grant amount.
6.2.A*STAR guidelines on the procurement of equipment must be followed. Items of need must be individually identified and the cost estimated. For items greater than S$70,000, relevant documents showing reason for the selection of vendor should be submitted to the JCOon the next fund requisition cycle.
6.3.Allowable items wouldencompass equipment and apparatus for the conduct of the research, but this would exclude general purpose items like computers, workstations and printers unless they are exclusively used in conduct of the research.
6.4.You should conduct a reasonable survey of all existing relevant equipment in your organisation and local research institutions (A*STAR RIs/consortia, universities, research centres etc.) and make use of them instead of purchasing similar equipment.
6.5.For new equipment, please justify the following:
6.5.1.The need to purchase the equipment/facilities, and the choice for selecting the equipment. Also show that the equipment chosen will give the best value for money.
6.5.2.If the equipment budget consists of a single piece of equipment costing S$70,000, detailed justification must be provided.Failure to justify may lead to the equipment item being excludedfrom the Equipment budget. Specifically, please provide the following:
- Explicit statements on the existence of similar equipment within A*STAR or your collaborators’ laboratories and its availability;
- Justify why equipment time cannot be purchased in other local laboratories that have similar equipment;
- Provision for maintenance;
- Where appropriate, please also indicate commitment from other potential users, justification of usage level and details of other intended or proposed uses upon project completion.
6.6.At the end of the project, JCO shall have the option to require that theRIs/consortia transfer ownership or make available the use of any of the Assets and Materials funded by a JCO grant to JCO or any other person or body at no cost.
- Other Operating Expenses (OOE)
7.1.Items under this category must be clearly specifiedand they may include materials, supplies, computer services (use of high performance computer resources and support services), software license, equipment maintenance costs, travel (allowance for airfare is based on a closed loop economy airfare) and conference costs.Further details can be found at section9.2.
7.2.There should not be any cross-charging for the use of equipment that belongs to A*STAR RIs/consortia participating in the project under the JCO grant award. Only expenses for the use of external equipment on a fee-for-service may be charged to this category. This may include external service providers, the Biopolis Shared Facilities, Biological Resource Centre, or in special circumstances, RIs/consortia whose staff are not participating in the JCO project and who provide specific fee-for-service.
7.3.For purchases of materials and consumables, justify the following:
7.3.1.The need for consumables. Consumables requested must be items that can be uniquely and unambiguously identified with the research project.
7.3.2.The number, type and source of supply of animals to be used in the research. Show that the number of animals to be used is the minimum required to produce valid results.
- Travel
8.1.JCO will only cover travel expenses made in relation to the JCO project, where the attendance of meetings and conferences must enhance the project or provide an opportunity to disseminate results. Please submit relevant supporting documents specifying the objective of travel, destination and actual costsexpended on the next fund requisition cycle. Travels must be made in accordance with A*STAR guidelines.
8.2.For grants awarded after the 1st of October 2010 no virements may be made into the Travel vote.
8.3.A cap of S$5,000 per researcher per year is to be adhered to when preparing the proposal budget. The total travel budget for the proposal should not exceed S$15,000 per year for Full Research Grants and S$10,000 per year for Exploratory Grants.
8.4.For budgeting of overseas travels, please justify the following:
8.4.1.The need for any travel. Whenever possible, detail the places and/or countries to be visited, the purpose, duration and persons travelling, and emphasize any proposed international collaborations.
8.4.2.All travel requests made on proposals should be evaluated against IT alternatives such as e-mail and video conferencing, and cogent reasons must be given for not using IT.
8.4.3.A breakdown of the travel budget into airfare and allowance for board and lodging should be provided. You are advised to only provide fair and reasonable estimates for travel expense.
- FUNDABLE / NON-FUNDABLE DIRECT COSTS
The following provides a guideline of the fundable/non-fundable direct costs for your project. You should check with your office of research/finance office for further details.
9.1EOM Related Expenses
Type of Expenses / DescriptionA. Salaries, CPF and fringe benefits including medical, dental, contribution to welfare fund, etc. / Allowable as part of overall compensation to employees provided such costs are incurred under formal established and consistently applied policies of the employing organisation, and pro-rated according to staff’s percentage time commitment to the JCO project.
All research staff associated with the project who qualify for salary support from JCO.
The salaries offered to staff should be reasonable, in line with local market benchmarks and comply with formal established pay scale of the employing organisation that is consistently applied regardless of the source of funds.
Salary is inclusive of basic salary, CPF, bonuses (including 13th month) and benefits (flex, dental, insurance). For foreign researchers only, housing and education allowance may be included).It excludes any expenses related to gratuity.
B. Bonus / Incentive payments / Allowable as part of a total compensation package, provided such payments are reasonable and are made according to a formal policy of the employing organisation that is consistently applied regardless of the source of funds. The amount claimable is pro-rated according to staff’s percentage time commitment to the JCO project.
C. Overtime / Not allowable.
D. Annual leave / Allowable for employees. The number of days of leave accorded to staff must be in accordance with formal policies of the employing organisation that is consistently applied regardless of the source of funds.
E. Staff recruitment cost / Not allowable. Examples of such costs are advertisement and recruitment agency cost.
F. Staff relocation and related cost / Staff relocation, settling-in allowances etc, are only allowable for newforeign hires to a JCO project and will be prorated based on the staff’s percentage time commitment to the JCO project.
Staff currently employed on pre-existing projects will not be able to claim relocation and related cost.
Relocation cost comprises air-passage, transit allowance and settling-in allowance.
G. Staff insurance / JCO will only fund the pro-rated (according to staff’s percentage time commitment to the JCO project)premiums for such plans if they are incurred under an established and consistently applied policy of the employing organisation. Employing organisation may be requested to certify that such payments are in accordance with its established policy or on the same terms as the other staff.
H. Visiting Professors / Not allowable unless specifically provided for in the grant and approved by JCO.
9.2OOE Related Expenses
Type of Expenses / DescriptionA. Audit fees / Not allowable. This includes both internal and external audit fees.
B. Bank charges / Allowable as long as it is specifically related to the payments for consumables and equipment used for the JCO project.
C. Books and specialised journals relevant to the research / Books and journals should be obtained from the library and PIs should refrain from purchasing the same books or subscribing to such journals. Where absolutely required, funding for journal subscription would be restricted to the duration of the project.
D. Customs and import duties / Allowable as long as it is specifically related to importation of consumables and equipment used in JCOthe project.
E. Entertainment & Refreshment / Not allowable.
F. Equipment usage charges / Not allowable for use of equipment that belongs to A*STAR RIs/consortia participating in the JCO project.
Only allowable for the use of external equipment/services on a fee-for-service basis. This may includeexternal service providers, the Biopolis Shared Facilities, Biological Resource Centre, or in special circumstances, RIs/consortia whose staff are not participating in the JCO project and who provide specific fee-for-service.
G. Fines and penalties / Not allowable.
H. GST / Allowable for expenses incurred for the project.
I. Insurance premiums / Not allowable. This includes insurance premiums for equipment, workmen compensation and professional indemnity of researchers funded from A*STAR grants.
The RI/consortium involved is responsible for the insurance of the equipment, relevant workmen compensation and professional indemnity insurance which are in line with the RI/consortium’s risk policies.
However, personal travel insurance for approved overseas trips is claimable.
J. Laundry / Not allowable. This includes clean-room attire and footwear.
K. Lab Coat / Not allowable.
L. Local & international students’ fees or other stipends or awards to students / Not allowable.
M. Legal fees / Not allowable.
N. License Fees / Not allowable. (e.g. radiation licence from HSA)
O. Local & Overseas conferences / Allowable provided thatthe conference is directly relevant to the research area or necessary to accomplish the project objectives for PIs and research staff funded under the JCOgrant.
Generally, sending of attachment students for conference is not allowable. If the PI wishes to send approved attachment students for conference, please write to JCO with the appropriate justification to seek approval prior to making the travel.
If the conferences are conducted overseas, the travel policy of the employing organisationmust be consistently adhered to.
P. Overhead expenses / Not allowable.
Q. Patent application / Not allowable.
This includes patent application filing, maintenance and other related cost.
R. Professional fees (including fees to consultants) / Not allowable.
S. Professional membership fees / Not allowable. This applies to PIs and all research staff funded from the JCOgrant.
T. Publications / Allowable.
Page charges for publication of manuscript in professional journals are allowable. The costs of reprints and publishing in other media, such as books, monographs and pamphlets are not allowable unless specific approval has been obtained from JCO.
U. Purchase of lab supplies, consumables, animals, use of services or lab spaces within the service provider’s central facilities / Allowable.
The cost for the use of the services and central facilities owned by the provider, such as animal holding units, central laboratory services are allowable and must be based on provider’s fee schedules which are consistently applied regardless of source of funds. Please also see item 9.2F.
The service provider may be requested to certify that the fee structure is applied consistently.
V. Repairs and maintenance of equipment / Not allowable unless specifically provided for in the grant and approved by JCO.
The period of maintenance funded from the research grant, if approved, should be restricted to the duration of the project.
W. Staff retreat / Not allowable.
X. Stationery and printer consumables / Not allowable unless specifically provided for in the grant and approved by JCO. This includes printing and photocopying charges.
Y. Training / Not allowable unless specifically provided for in the grant and approved by JCO.
Z. Transportation, postage & courier services / Not allowable for general transport, postage & courier charges.
Only allowable for postage, courier and freight charges for bringing in equipment and specialised research consumables related to the JCO project.
Rental of vehicles (land/sea/air) is not allowed unless specifically provided for in the grant and approved by JCO.
AA. Vaccinations / Not allowable for routine health vaccinations. Only allowed when working with micro-organisms carrying infectious diseases.
BB. Volunteers and research patients / Allowable for payment to volunteers and research patients provided this is the scope of the research and has been provided for in the grant and approved by JCO.
9.3Equipment Related Expenses
Type of Expenses / DescriptionA. General policy / There shall be no purchase of equipment 6 months before the end date of the JCOproject. The completion date of the project refers to latest approved completion date.
B. IT equipment / Not allowable.
Purchase of computer equipment and printers are generally not allowed unless specifically provided for in the grant and approved by JCO.
Where absolutely required, purchase of IT equipment must be in accordance with the IT policy of the RI/consortium involved, regardless of source of funds.
C. Purchase of PDAs, iPads, handphones, etc / Not allowable unless specifically provided for in the grant and approved by JCO.
D. Office equipment / Not allowable unless specifically provided for in the grant and approved by JCO.
E. Office furniture & fittings / Not allowable unless specifically provided for in the grant and approved by JCO.
F. Cost of capital works and general infrastructure (including the costs associated with the establishment and running of the Grant Administration Office) / Not allowable unless specifically provided for in the grant and approved by JCO.
REFERENCE RATES FOR PROJECT COSTING #
MANPOWER / 1stYear / 2ndYear / 3rdYear /Total
Research Fellow (PhD Degree)Monthly Salary (all-inclusive) / $4,225 / $4,550 / $4,875 / -
Total Cost Per Annum / $78,910 / $87,035 / $97,045 / $262,990
Research Assistant (Masters Degree)
Monthly Salary (all-inclusive) / $3,120 / $3,280 / $3,440 / -
Total Cost Per Annum / $58,350 / $62,850 / $68,650 / $189,850
Research Assistant (Hons)
Monthly Salary (all-inclusive) / $2,640 / $2,800 / $2,960 / -
Total Cost Per Annum / $49,700 / $54,000 / $59,400 / $163,100
Laboratory Technicians
Monthly Salary (all-inclusive) / $1,600 / $1,695 / $1,800 / -
Total Cost Per Annum / $30,000 / $31,780 / $33,750 / $95,530
TRAVEL (per person) / $5,000 / $5,000 / $5,000 / $15,000
# The figures above are reference rates only. The rates actually used must comply with the prevailing Human Resource and Travel guidelines of the employing organisation.
GLOSSARY OF TERMS
Assets / Includes all equipment, computer software, goods, products, databases, accessories, hardware and any other asset purchased or acquired using the JCO funds, but does not include Intellectual Property or consumables.Award / Approved and committed grant support by A*STAR JCO for the duration of the project (normally not exceeding 3 years).
Collaborator / Any company, institution, incorporated body or other industry or academic collaborator which is not an Institution or an Investigator of A*STAR but is to be engaged in the project in collaboration with the A*STAR Institutions or any of them.
For avoidance of doubt, collaborators are not entitled to receive (directly or indirectly) any portion of the Funds.
Direct Costs / Costs required for theundertaking of the project. This excludes in-kind contributions from industry/employing organisation/other organisations, existing equipment, materials and supplies.
Employing organisation / Refers to the RI/consortium where the research staff is employed.
Host Institution / The Host Institution is the RI/consortium which is the employing organisation of the Project Director.
Laboratory Technician / An individual who has a technical certificate, diploma or has relevant technical experience.
Letter of Award / The letter issued by A*STAR JCO under which the award of the project is made.
Line Items / Budgeted items listed under the EOM, Equipment, OOE and Travel votes.
Materials / Includes documents, anonymised patient samples (including tissue and sera), compilation of x-ray results, information and data stored by any means but excluding confidential patient data collated or acquired for the purposes of the project.
Principal Investigator (PI) / A Principal Investigator is a researcher who makes significant contributions to the intellectual content and is responsible for the milestones and deliverables associated with a specific component(s) of the proposed research work. For the purposes of this grant, it has no reference to a particular RSE Grade.
Project Director / The Project Director shall be one of the Principal Investigators who will be responsible for coordinating the project team, managing the overall grant, including ensuring that the JCO grant is appropriately apportioned to the participating RIs / Consortia, as well as consolidating the progress report and final report for submission to JCO.
Research Assistant / An individual employed in a research capacity and must at least have a Bachelor degree.
Research Fellow or
Postdoctoral Fellow / An individual employed in a research capacity with at least a Ph.D degree and who is not undertaking independent research.
Total Project Value / Sum of directs costs. This does not include in-kind contributions, building costs, and existing equipment.
Visiting Professor / Overseas experts who are invited to A*STAR for 1 month or more as part of the research project’s programme.
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