CREATING AND UNDERSTANDING BUDGETS Office of Research and Sponsored Programs Jack Gelfand, Director Maria Nakamura, Associate Director

UNDERSTANDING THE BUDGET PROCESS ORSP will work with you to develop a budget for a proposal submission. It is a good idea to be able to estimate what the proposed costs will be in order to write a reasonable proposal.

BUDGET CATEGORIES Expenses listed in a budget fall into a number of categories. These categories are specified by the funding agencies. There are a few principal categories that you will encounter.

PERSONNEL Cost of the salary and wages of the different personnel that are working on the project. –Senior investigator –Other investigators –Graduate students –Undergraduate students –Research staff If necessary, it is possible to hire additional support staff with grant funds

Fringe Benefits (FB) Must pay fringe benefits for all employees –Paid vacation –Sick days –Retirement –Long-term disability –Social security Calculated based on total salary Rate varies for different classifications Changes from year to year

Various Fringe Rates 45.53% New York State –Faculty Academic year 15.5% Faculty Summer Salary 37% Regular Employees 4.5% Undergraduate Students 11.5% Graduate Students

MATERIALS AND SUPPLIES (M&S) Materials used for execution of project –Chemicals –Computer supplies –Electronics –Office supplies Limit $5,000 each item (federal) Useful life less less than one year

(CAPITAL) EQUIPMENT More than $5,000 Life of more than one year –Mass spectrometer –EEG apparatus –Stage sound system

TRAVEL Travel to meetings Travel for the execution of the research. Travel to meet with the sponsor during the project (always check)

PUBLICATIONS AND REPORTS Costs involved in publishing your results. Includes page charges from journals. Also costs associated with preparing and disseminating reports for the funding agency (always check).

PARTICIPANT SUPPORT Provides support for participation in a program Can include, for example, stipends, room & board and travel

COURSE RELEASE 10% for each course/semester Must include fringe benefits and overhead Example below is for a federal agency

Summer Salary There are 10 months in the academic year. There is a maximum of two months of summer salary. By convention the maximum summer salary is 2/9 of the academic year salary. This is the only known situation where faculty come out ahead.

Summer Salary Calculation Note that fringe benefit charge is 11.5% for summer.

GRADUATE RESEARCH ASSISTANT A tuition waiver may be requested from the Graduate Office.

TOTAL DIRECT COSTS (TDC) The total expenses for a grant are known as the total direct costs (TDC).

FACILITIES AND ADMINISTRATION (F&A) INDIRECT COST OVERHEAD General nonspecific expenses –Library –Heating and lighting –Administration Federal negotiated rate = 76% of salary & wage Non-federal rate 58.9% TDC Foundations = 0 – 10% (negotiable)