Issued 1/4/2010

NSF RESEARCH PROPOSAL

BUDGET JUSTIFICATION TEMPLATE

(An NSF Budget Justification cannot exceed three pages.)

Key for the template user:

  • BLACK type is the recommended wording pre-approved by University Research Administration, assuming appropriateness of the costs to the project. Template user is responsible for consistency with the budget pages, explaining how amounts were calculated and the reasons amounts are request.
  • RED type or underscore requires template user input.
  • BLUE italicized typeis commentary for the template user to consider.

Unless otherwise stated, the costs in the budget are inflated by ___% annually after the first budget year.

PERSONNEL

We request funding for the following project staffing plan. The salaries are consistent with the University of Chicago’s regular practices. The role of each staff member is described below.

  • (When only one individual is listed in the SENIOR PERSONNEL section, use this justification.) Annually, one month of summer salary for the principal investigator.
  • (For multiple individuals listed in the SENIOR PERSONNEL section, use this justification.) The salaries and person-months of the principal investigator and senior personnel will be itemized in a separate statement and forwarded to the NSF in accordance with the instruction specified in NSF GPG Chapter I.D.3.
  • ___ postdoctoral scholars. The annual rate of pay for each scholar is $___.
  • ___Choose from: technician, programmer or professional persons. The annual rate of pay for the Choose from: technician, programmer or professional is $___.
  • ___ graduate students.
  • ___ undergraduate students.
  • ___ person months of salary at ___% effort for administrative support. (The circumstances for the direct charge of these services to the award must be clearly described in the budget justification. The direct charge of these costs may be appropriate where administrative or clerical effort can be specifically identified to the project or activity. "Major project" is defined as a project that requires an extensive amount of administrative or clerical support, which is significantly greater than the routine level of such services provided by academic departments. Some examples are:
  • Large, complex programs such as General Clinical Research Centers, 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 (such as epidemiological studies, clinical trials, and retrospective clinical records studies).
  • Projects that require making travel and meeting arrangements for large numbers of participants, such as conferences and seminars.
  • Projects whose principal focus is the preparation and production of manuals and large reports, books and monographs (excluding routine progress and technical reports).
  • Projects that are geographically inaccessible to normal departmental administrative services, such as research vessels, radio astronomy projects, and other research fields sites that are remote from campus.
  • Individual projects requiring project-specific database management; individualized graphics or manuscript preparation; human or animal protocols; and multiple project-related investigator coordination and communications.)

(briefly describe the administrative assistant’s duties).

BENEFITS

We request benefits support at the rate of ___% of salary for all personnel listed in the staffing plan except the graduate and undergraduate students. We request benefits support at the rate of ___% of salary for the graduate and undergraduate students when they are not registered for classes. No benefits are assessed when a student is registered for classes. (If part-time or temporary personnel are listed, modify the text to request benefits support at the rate of ___% and identify the applicable personnel.)

EQUIPMENT

(Text for constructed/ fabricated equipment when cost details are known. Use the paragraph below to describe each item listed on the budget page.)

We request $_____ to fabricate a ______. It will be used to ______. During year _ thru _, we will construct the ______by purchasing the following materials and services.

  • Material item 1 description (unit cost x quantity) =material item 1’s cost
  • Material item 2 description (unit cost x quantity) =material item 2’s cost
  • Material item i description (unit cost x quantity) =material item i’s cost
  • Service item 1 description (hourly rate x hours to complete) =service item 1’scost
  • Service item 2 description (hourly rate x hours to complete) =service item 2’s cost
  • Service item i description (hourly rate x hours to complete) =service item i’s cost
  • Total cost $_____(This amount should equal the amount indicated at the start of this paragraph.)

(Text for constructed/fabricated equipment when cost details are not known. Use the paragraph below to describe each item listed on the budget page.)

We request $_____ to fabricate the following equipment. Construction will begin in year ___ and end by year ___. The cost basis for each budget is based upon past experience for the development of similar equipment.

  • Fabricated item 1 description, item 1’s cost$
  • Fabricated item 2 description, item 2’s cost$
  • Fabricated item i description, item i’s cost$
  • Total cost $_____(This amount should equal the amount indicated at the start of this paragraph.)

(Text for equipment purchased from a vendor. Use the paragraph below to describe each item listed on the budget page.)

In Year __ of the project, we request $___ to purchase a ______. It will be used to ______. It will be used exclusively in the conduct of scientific research. The budget includes modifications, attachments, and accessories necessary to make the item usable for the purpose it will be purchased. (Include a basis for the acquisition cost. Choose from the following or add new descriptions as the program solicitation allows.

  • Estimates from several vendors were used to develop the budget for this item.
  • The budget is based upon the cost of fabricating similar equipment in the past. )

DOMESTIC TRAVEL

We request funding for the following domestic travel plans for University of Chicago project members. Travel costs are comprised of transportation, accommodations, subsistence and incidentals. (Choose from among the following or add new descriptions as the program solicitation allows.)

  • ___ project members will travel to ____ to work on fabricating the equipment for this project. The travel budget assumes ___ days at the construction site.
  • ___ project members will travel to ____ to perform field work. The travel budget assumes ___ days in the field.
  • Each award year, __ project members will attend ___ collaboration meetings. This budget may be used to cover the costs of meals and coffee-breaks for participants of any project meetings hosted by the University of Chicago.
  • Each award year, ___ project members will attend ___ domestic conferences to_____ (Choose from among the following: accomplish project objectives, or disseminate project results.)

INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL

We request funding for the following international travel plans for University of Chicago project members. Travel costs are comprised of transportation, accommodations, subsistence and incidentals. (Choose from among the following or add new descriptions as the program solicitation allows.)

  • ___ project members will travel to ____ to work on fabricating the equipment for this project. The travel budget assumes ___ days at the construction site.
  • ___ project members will travel to ____ to perform field work. The travel budget assumes ___ days in the field.
  • Each award year, __ project members will attend two collaboration meetings. This budget may be used to cover the costs of meals and coffee-breaks for participants of any project meetings hosted by the University of Chicago.
  • Each award year, ___ project members will attend ___ international conferences to_____(Choose from among the following: accomplish project objectives or disseminate project results.)

SECTION F – PARTICIPANT SUPPORT COSTS (You can use past experience as the basis for estimates of headcounts, expense types and amounts. If you do, include a statement indicating experience is the basis for your cost estimates.)

(Text for a conference, meeting, symposium, training project or workshop.)

We request funding for ___ participants to the __(insert event’s title)____. The per participant cost is budgeted to be $___ and is allocated $____ for transportation, $___ for subsistence, $___ for accommodations, $___ for travel incidentals, $___ for registration, and $______for other.

(Text for a stipend, per diem or subsistence allowance. It should be based on the type and duration of the activity as outlined in the program solicitation.)

We request funding for ___ trainees/participantsat the ___(insert event’s title)_ described in the program description. $___ will be paid to each choose from:trainee or participant as a choose from: stipend, per diem or subsistence allowance for ______. The proposed payment is in conformance with The University of Chicago’s practices and limited to the days of attendance at the project plus the actual travel time required to reach the training location.

SECTION G – OTHER DIRECT COSTS

We request funding for other direct costs as detailed below.

Line 1 – Materials and supplies: The following supplies will be used solely for the conduct of the proposed research.

Choose from among the following expense types or add new types as the program solicitation allows: Cryogens for cooling; lab supplies and hand tools to facilitate equipment fabrication; weekly teleconferences and long distance calls with collaborators; computer hardware for data acquisition and analysis; computer software and licensing fees for data acquisition and analysis; postage and shipping for movement of materials and parts among collaborators. (Cost estimates must be included for items that represent a substantial amount of the proposed line item cost. Preparer to use judgment when determining what is substantial since the NSF is silent on this point.)

Line 2 - Publications: Charges for __pages per year at a per page cost of $___.

Line 3 – Consultant services: The following consultant services will be used. Each individual’s expertise is provided in the project description.

  • Consultant 1, Name, organizational affiliation, brief description, normal daily compensation rate, number of days of expected service, transportation, accommodation and subsistence costs. Estimated cost paid to _insert consultant’s name__ will be $____.
  • Consultant 2, Name, organizational affiliation, brief description, normal daily compensation rate, number of days of expected service, transportation, accommodation and subsistence costs. Estimated cost paid to _insert consultant’s name__ will be $____.
  • Consultanti, Name, organizational affiliation, brief description, normal daily compensation rate, number of days of expected service, transportation, accommodation and subsistence costs. Estimated cost paid to _insert consultant’s name__ will be $____.
  • Total cost of consultants is estimated to be $_____.

Line 4 – Computer services: The computing services will be purchased from The University of Chicago’s computing centers. The costs are based on the established rates for these centers.

  • Computing Center 1, Name, brief description of services requested, established rate for the service, number of hour or days of expected service. Estimated cost paid to _insert center’s name__ will be $____.
  • Computing Center 2, Name, brief description of services requested, established rate for the service, number of hour or days of expected service. Estimated cost paid to _insert center’s name__ will be $____.
  • Computing Center i, Name, brief description of services requested, established rate for the service, number of hour or days of expected service. Estimated cost paid to _insert center’s name__ will be $____.
  • Total cost of computer services is estimated to be $_____

Line 5 - Subawards: Support is requested for ___, ____-year subawards totaling $XXXX.XX with the following institutions and investigators. Their budgets with justifications are entered as subawards in FASTLANE and their statements of work are incorporated into the Project Description.

1. Subaward recipient #1, PI name

2. Subaward recipient #2, PI name

i. Subaward recipient #i, PI name

Line 6 - Other: Graduate student tuition support is requested in accordance with the University of Chicago Physical Sciences Division's established policy of requesting tuition support at the rate of 50% of graduate student salaries. The amount partially covers the graduate student's actual tuition cost.

SECTION I - INDIRECT COSTS

Per our rate agreement dated xx/xx/xx with our cognizant federal agency, the Department of Health and Human Services, a rate of xx.x% is applied to Modified Total Direct Costs for on-campus activities. If applicable,a rate of xx.x% is applied to Modified Total Direct Costs incurred for off-campus activities(use this sentence if activities involve an off-campus research site). A rate of xx.x% is applied to the first $25,000 for each of the ___insert number of subawards___ subawards proposed on line G.5 of the budget.

In this budget, the salary and benefits for _(insert applicable personnel)_ and their _(insert applicable other costs like travel) are considered off-campus activities. Excluding subawards, all other direct costs are considered on-campus activities.

SECTION K – RESIDUAL FUNDS

(This line is used only for incremental funding requests on continuing grants. Grantees should provide a rationale for residual funds in excess of 20% as part of the project report.)

SECTION M - COST SHARING PROPOSED LEVEL

(An explanation of the source, nature, amount and availability of any proposed cost sharing must be provided in the budget justification. The estimated value of any in-kind contributions should also be included on Line M, if proposed.) The University of Chicago will provide $_____ it received from ___insert funding source___for ___insert purpose of this funding source___.

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