1. Research Administration for Scientists Tim Quigg, Associate Chair and Lecturer Computer Science Department, UNC-Chapel Hill Introduction to Proposal Budgeting COMP 918: Research Administration for Scientists © Copyright 2012 Timothy L. Quigg All Rights Reserved

2. Research Administration for Scientists You’ve found a BAA that seems appropriate. But is your project budget the right size for this particular program.  How much can I request?  How much do I need?  How much should I request? These important strategic budgeting questions should be considered before preparing a detailed budget! Important Strategic Questions:

3. Research Administration for Scientists  How much can I request? Where would you look to answer this question?  BAA – Program Solicitation  If no information is provided (not often the case) or if you have additional questions, contact the agency (contact person should be in BAA)

4. Research Administration for Scientists Title: Smart Health and Wellbeing (SHB)(nsf12512) National Science Foundation Directorate for Computer & Information Science & Engineering Division of Computing and Communication Foundations Division of Computer and Network Systems Division of Information & Intelligent Systems Directorate for Engineering Directorate for Social, Behavioral & Economic Sciences Full Proposal Deadline(s) (due by 5 p.m. proposer's local time): February 06, 2012 Type I: Exploratory Projects (EXP) February 21, 2012 Type II: Integrative Projects (INT) IMPORTANT INFORMATION AND REVISION NOTES This document partially replaces the CISE Cross-Cutting FY 2011 solicitation with a stand-alone solicitation for the Smart Health and Wellbeing Program. The Directorate for Engineering and the Directorate for Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences have been added as partners in this program. Two types of projects, Exploratory Projects and Integrative Projects, are being solicited. They are described in the solicitation. They differ in funding ranges and requirements from the Small, Medium and Large projects of the prior Cross-Cutting solicitation. CISE investments in SHB Type I and Type II projects complement the directorate's investments in the Expeditions in Computing Program, where projects are funded at levels up to $10,000,000 total for durations of up to 5 years. Sometimes the solicitation isn’t as straightforward as this. It may just indicate the total available dollars and the anticipated number of awards!

5. Award Information Anticipated Type of Award: Standard Grant or Continuing Grant Estimated Number of Awards: 10 to 18 This includes 6-10 awards for Type I Exploratory Projects (EXP) and 4-8 awards for Type II Integrative Projects (INT) Anticipated Funding Amount: $15,000,000 in FY 2012, dependent upon the availability of funds. When you do the math based upon the anticipated number of awards and the available funding, it may be obvious the actual average award amount will be considerably lower than the stated maximum allowable award amount!

6. Research Administration for Scientists Check the BAA for other important information!  Is the annual award amount capped? Is there a limit on the escalation % from year-to-year?  Are any line items prohibited, e.g., equipment?  Are there restrictions on the type of organizations allowed to apply? How about PI qualifications?  Are there limits on the number of proposals submitted per PI or per institution?  Is cost share required?

7. Research Administration for Scientists  How much do I need? Many PI’s struggle with this question:  Carefully consider every necessary expense.  Need or desire? Is the travel budget necessary to complete the project? It’s often hard to separate what is necessary from what you want!  Try to focus only on necessary cost elements at this point.  2 months of your time  1 graduate RA  a specialized piece of equipment

8. Research Administration for Scientists  How much do I need? Do a rough estimate based upon your needs :  2 months of your time - 9 month salary of $90K ($10K per month) plus 20% fringe benefits = $24K  1 graduate RA - $30K per year with fringe benefits plus tuition of $7K = $37K  specialized piece of equipment at $18K  F&A (48%) is not charged on equipment, so total F&A is 48% of $61K (24 + 37) = $29K  ($61K+$29K per year) * 3 years + $18K one-time equipment purchase = $288K total project cost!  Note: Keep a “cheat sheet” with these frequently used cost elements!

9. Research Administration for Scientists  Is this rough estimate in the “ball park”? If your estimate is above the target, consider these two actions: 1.Reduce the scope of the project and eliminate associated costs – Concern: Is the project still interesting? To reviewers? To you? 2.Seek supplemental resources from other sources:  use equipment from another lab rather than purchasing from grant  use independent study students rather than paid RA’s  request cost share support!

10. Research Administration for Scientists  Is this rough estimate in the “ball park”? If your estimate is below the target, consider two actions: 1.Expand the scope of the project and add associated costs OR 2.Keep the project scope static but add line items that will make the project:  easier to complete  more likely to succeed  more interesting to you!

11. Research Administration for Scientists  How much should I request? Given your best estimate of the likely median funding level for awards under this solicitation, request:  The amount necessary to complete an interesting project which has a reasonable chance of success.  Its fine to submit a budget at the high end of the “reasonable range”, but don’t inflate it unreasonably in anticipation of cuts – reviewers will know!  Don’t reduce the budget in the belief it will enhance your chance of being funded – you need adequate resources or you won’t be able to do the work!  Request what you need and explain every requested line item fully in the budget justification.

12. Research Administration for Scientists Now prepare a detailed budget and budget justification! What information do you need to get started ?  Appointment type for all personnel:  9 month (academic and summer months)  12 month (calendar months)  Note: 9 month personnel may earn up to 3 summer months of salary at the established monthly rate (1/9 th of base salary).  Note: Base salary is the rate for the appointment period without non-permanent supplements. Permanent chair supplements are normally a part of base salary; time-limited (including administrative) ones are not.

13. Research Administration for Scientists Now prepare a detailed budget and budget justification! What information do you need to get started ?  Appointment type for all personnel:  NSF will only pay for 2 summer months per year (total from all NSF grants).  It’s OK to propose more than 2 months on various pending proposals, but if they are all funded you will need to make adjustments.  What are the implications of taking less than the budgeted salary for PI’s and other key personnel? Remember: You are not required to charge all “key personnel” effort to the project budget, but you are required to provide all “key personnel” effort as presented in the approved budget! Either Cost Share the effort not charged or obtain an agency- approved budget modification!

14. Research Administration for Scientists Now prepare a detailed budget and budget justification! What information do you need to get started ?  Appointment type for all personnel:  NSF will only pay for 2 summer months per year (total from all NSF grants).  It’s OK to propose more than 2 months in various pending proposals, but if they are all funded you will need to make adjustments.  What are the implications of taking less than the budgeted effort?  To earn 3 summer months of support, you must have one non-NSF source!

15. Research Administration for Scientists Now prepare a detailed budget and budget justification! What information do you need ?  Salaries for all personnel:  Note: NIH caps their maximum salary participation at the federal Executive Level II rate (currently $179,700)  This cap applies to fractional funding as well  So, if faculty salary is $300,000 ($25,000 per month), the maximum allowable for NIH participation is 1/12 th of cap ($14,975 per month). The difference ($10,025) is cost share and must be documented!

16. Research Administration for Scientists Now prepare a detailed budget and budget justification! What information do you need ?  Fringe Benefit rates for all personnel:  Often expressed as a % of salary plus health insurance cost  Rates vary by employee classification (staff, faculty, post-doc, graduate student, clinical staff)  For 9 month faculty, all 12 months of the health insurance premiums are charged during the 9 month period of employment, so the fringe benefit line for summer salary does not include health insurance costs.

17. Research Administration for Scientists Now prepare a detailed budget and budget justification! NOTE: When fringe benefits are actually expensed during the project, there will be some modest variation from the budgeted rate based upon the actual salaries of employees (e.g., FICA is only charged on the first $106,800 for 2011) and other issues. But for convenience most universities use approved average rates for each employee classification for budgeting purposes.

18. Research Administration for Scientists Now prepare a detailed budget and budget justification! What information do you need ?  Equipment quotes: If cost is > $5K it is equipment and not subject to F&A, but if < $5K it is supplies and is subject to F&A  Example: a computer costing $4,500 with 48% F&A = total cost to your budget of $6,660.  The same computer with $500 in upgrades (upgraded memory, enhanced graphics card or some other upgrade) will only cost the grant $5,000 (no F&A)  You save money and get a better machine! Breakeven = $3,400 $3,400 * 1.48 = $5,032 So if B.E. its better to add upgrades to get cost to $5K!

19. Research Administration for Scientists Now prepare a detailed budget and budget justification! What information do you need ?  Applicable Recharge Center Rates: Lab animals, assay preparation, fabrication, computer services.  Supplies: lab supplies, consumables, software and other project-related supplies, but standard office supplies are not allowed as direct cost.  NOTE: You may know the cost of some supply items (2 laptops at $2K each, software at $500); for other items (chemicals, consumables) you may need to estimate based upon past experience with similar projects.  That’s why it’s a good idea to log the cost of consumables used in your lab by project!

20. Research Administration for Scientists Now prepare a detailed budget and budget justification! What information do you need ?  Travel (domestic and foreign): These are two separate line items and it is usually best to budget for both in your proposal.  If you only budget for domestic travel and you later want to attend a conference outside the U.S., you must obtain agency approval for a budget change to create the foreign travel line! Depending upon the agency and the award type, this could create a considerable delay!  NOTE: Many institutions have different travel rates for foreign travel than domestic travel, so be certain to budget and charge the proper rates!

21. Research Administration for Scientists Now prepare a detailed budget and budget justification! What information do you need ?  Subrecipient Budget: Start early, these must be approved by the subrecipient institution first and then sent to the prime for inclusion in the overall proposal budget.  Direct costs plus associated F&A costs included on the subrecipient budget appear on the prime budget as a single entry under “subawards”.  In the calculation of F&A, the prime budget must charge F&A on the first $25K of each sub ($25K *.48 = $12K)  1 st $25K means for project period, not per year!

22. Research Administration for Scientists Let’s look at the standard NSF budget form and begin to develop a simple budget!

23. Research Administration for Scientists Enter official name of university and name of PI!

24. Research Administration for Scientists Enter PI effort (either calendar or summer months) and the appropriate salary!

25. Research Administration for Scientists Enter Co-PI name, effort and salary

26. Research Administration for Scientists Enter total # of people, months and salary

27. Research Administration for Scientists Note: There is only a single line for post- docs, so if you have more than one, the detail including salary must be explained in the budget justification!

28. Research Administration for Scientists Note: The form only allows for the # of graduate students and the total salary - no “month column”. Explain appointment period (AY & summer) in budget justification!

29. Research Administration for Scientists In this case there are 2 students at $17K each for the academic year plus one for the summer at $11,050 for a total salary of $45,050.

30. Research Administration for Scientists Total all salaries!

31. Research Administration for Scientists To calculate fringe benefits, consider the separate rates for the 3 employee classifications: faculty, post- docs and graduate students!

32. Research Administration for Scientists  UNC Fringe Benefit Rates  Faculty:  21% of salary plus  $410.94 per month health insurance for 12 month appointments only  Post-docs:  8.22% of salary plus  $271.18 per month health insurance  Graduate Students:  8.22% of salary plus  $215.84 per month health insurance

33. Research Administration for Scientists  Fringe Benefit Calculation  Faculty:  $27,000 *.21 = $5,670.00  health insurance for $410.94 calendar months only  Post-doc  $45,000 *.0822 = $3,699.00  12 months @ $271.18 = $3,244.16  Graduate Students  $45,050 *.0822 = $3,703.11  21 months @ $215.84 = $4,532.64 ________  Total = $21,259.85

34. Research Administration for Scientists Enter whole dollars only! You can either round or truncate!

35. Research Administration for Scientists Total salary and fringe benefits!

36. Research Administration for Scientists List each piece of equipment separately showing the cost per unit. Then enter the total budgeted equipment amount on line D.

37. Research Administration for Scientists Note: Line E (travel) is divided into E.1 (domestic) and E.2 (foreign). Enter budget amounts for each separately.

38. Research Administration for Scientists Enter amounts for materials and supplies, publication, and consultant services.

39. Research Administration for Scientists Follow your departmental and/or institutional rules for calculating computer services fees as applicable.

40. Research Administration for Scientists  UNC Computer Science Computer Services Fees  Faculty, Staff and Post-docs:  billed at a rate of $535 per month (pro-rated for partial months)  charged to salary source (s)  Graduate Students:  billed at ½ rate for academic year  billed at full rate for summer  charged to salary source (s)  Simply sum the total number of months, multiply by $535, and enter amount on line G.4.

41. Research Administration for Scientists Faculty = 3 Post-doc = 12 Graduate students= 9 (2 for 9 months each at ½ time) Graduate student = 3 (summer) Total = 27 27 * $535 = $14,445

42. Research Administration for Scientists Enter total budget for sub-awardees. Note: This is the total budgeted amount (direct and F&A) for the all sub- awardees. Explain in budget justification.

43. Research Administration for Scientists Enter total budget for graduate student tuition (in- state portion only). Note: the out-of- state portion is paid from either a “tuition remission” allocation or by the student!

44. Research Administration for Scientists  Tuition Charges on Budgets  UNC-CH Policy  In-state tuition is always charged to the salary source  Out-of-state tuition is either charged to “tuition remission” allocation or to the student, but never to the feds!  Policies vary by type of school  Private universities will likely have a single tuition rate (not divided by in-state and out-of-state)  The entire amount may be charged to sponsored program budgets  A-21 test – Costs incurred under like circumstances must be treated consistently, e.g., in order to charge the feds for tuition for grad students working on grants, the institution must charge tuition for grad students working on all other funding sources.

45. Research Administration for Scientists Note: This line may include “other direct costs” that do bear F&A in addition to tuition which does not, so be certain to separate and explain in budget justification!

46. Research Administration for Scientists Total other direct costs (Section G) and then total all direct costs (Section A through G)!

47. Research Administration for Scientists Calculate the base (MTDC), determine the applicable F&A rate and enter both in Section I. Base =$251,961 - $18,650 (equipment) - $13,556 (tuition) - $25,000 (sub-awards over $25K) = $194,755

48. Research Administration for Scientists Calculate and enter the F&A amount on line J. ($184,344 *.48 = $93,482).

49. Research Administration for Scientists Total lines H (total direct) and I (total indirect) and enter sum on line J.

50. Research Administration for Scientists Line K will always be zero for new proposals, so enter zero and total lines J, K and L. Line M will only have an entry if the solicitation requires cost share!

51. Research Administration for Scientists Remember: the budget justification is used to both explain calculations and to explain why each cost is needed to accomplish the Scope of Work!

52. Research Administration for Scientists Remember: the budget justification is used to both explain calculations and to explain why each cost is needed to accomplish the Scope of Work!

53. Research Administration for Scientists If done properly, the reviewer will understand how each cost was calculated and why it is necessary!

54. Research Administration for Scientists  Sample Budget Justification Personnel There is one Principal Investigator and one Co- Principal Investigator on this project: 1. ____________________, Associate Professor of ______, will be the principal investigator and will lead the research and will _____. We are requesting ___ months effort. 2. ____________________, Assistant Professor of _____, will assist in this effort by doing _______. We are requesting ___ months effort. 3. Support for two (2) full-time (12 month) graduate student research assistants (RAs) is requested. 1 student will _____. All salaries are inflated at a rate of __% (usually 2-3%) per year for years two and three. Faculty fringe benefits are calculated at a rate of 21% of salary plus the cost of health insurance ($410.94 per month). For academic faculty (9-month), health insurance is charged on academic months only. For research faculty and other 12 month appointments, health insurance is charged based on monthly effort. Post-doc fringe benefits are calculated at a rate of.0822% of salary plus the cost of health insurance ($271.18 per month). Graduate student fringe benefits are calculated at a rate of.0822% of salary plus the cost of health insurance ($215.84 per month).

55. Research Administration for Scientists  Fringe Benefit Calculation Equipment Support is requested for the purchase of ________ in year _____ of the project. It has an estimated cost of $______ and will be used to _______. Travel $_____ per year is requested for domestic travel and $_____ is requested for foreign travel to technical conferences to present the results of our research. This represents ____ domestic and ____ foreign trips per year. Travel lines are inflated by X% in years two and three. Other Direct Costs: Materials and Supplies $_____ per year is requested to pay for project specific software, research supplies and lab consumable supplies. This figure has been calculated based upon past experience with similar projects. No routine office supplies are charged to sponsored research projects.

56. Research Administration for Scientists  Fringe Benefit Calculation Computer Services Fees: The Department of Computer Science distributes the cost of maintaining its shared computing infrastructure among all users through its Computer Services Recharge Center. The University reviews this Recharge Center each year to ensure that it is in compliance with all applicable federal and state regulations, including OMB Circulars A-21 and A- 110, as well as the Federal Cost Accounting Standards. Rates are adjusted annually to ensure that the Recharge Center is operating on a strict cost recovery basis. This Recharge Center is subject to, and has passed, both federal and state audits. All records are available for review by authorized federal and state representatives. The rate is $535 per Full Time Equivalent (FTE) per month. Rates apply to each user and are charged according to salary distribution, e.g., if a person works 50% on one project and 50% on another during the month, each project pays 50% of the fee for that month. All employees and students are assessed the same rate without regard to their salary source (federal, state, foundation, commercial). Undergraduate students working on research projects are typically not heavy users of CSRC services. Their fee will vary from 5-25% of the full fee, depending upon the number of hours worked, e.g., a student working 40 hours/week would pay 25% of the full fee and a student working 10 hours/week would pay 6.25% of the full fee. This fee will be paid from the contract or grant that supports the student. No additional fees are charged, and all services included within the Recharge Center are available to all users. The Department's computing environment includes more than 680 computers integrated by means of high-speed networks, including an integrated voice/data switch and video switches. E-mail, internet access, routine backups, a host of personal productivity and development software, the services of the TSC (Technical Support Center) Help Desk, UNIX System Administration, PC (Windows and NT) and Macintosh System Administration and the labor for most hardware repair are examples of the available services.

57. Research Administration for Scientists  Fringe Benefit Calculation Communications $500 per year is requested to cover the cost of Federal Express or other expedited package delivery services. Graduate Student Tuition All supported graduate students at UNC-Chapel Hill have their in-state tuition paid by the source of their support, e.g., federal grant, state teaching assistant funds, fellowship grant. These numbers are estimates as tuition charges are set by the North Carolina Legislature annually: $5,640 (estimate) for academic year 2011-2012. All categories of Other Direct Costs are inflated by 4% in years 2 and 3 except the two that are formula driven, i.e., computer services and maintenance. Facilities & Administrative Costs The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has an approved Facilities & Administrative (F&A) cost rate agreement providing for an F&A cost rate of 48% of MTDC. This rate is not applied to equipment over $5,000 per unit, graduate student tuition or any subcontract costs in excess of $25,000.

58. COMP 918: First Budget Assignment You are a junior faculty member in your home department at UNC-Chapel Hill and are submitting your first grant proposal to NSF – a three year project beginning on July 1, 2012. Your budget must comply with OMB Circular A-21, NSF guidelines, UNC, and your home department requirements. Use the attached NSF budget template and prepare a budget justification as a Word file. Proposals must be submitted electronically to quigg@cs.unc.eduquigg@cs.unc.edu By 5:00pm on Tuesday February 14, 2012. Late submissions will be deemed non-responsive and will receive a failing grade – just like in the real world! Budgets must include the following components (additional costs may be included if deemed necessary to perform the research): Two months of summer salary support (or the equivalent if you have a 12 month appointment) for you as PI and one month for a Co-PI in each year Salary support for 3 graduate students in year 1 for 12 months (some departments are on a 9 - 3 basis, others on a 12 month basis); and 2 graduate students for 12 months in years 2 & 3 Salary support for a technical staff person at whatever effort level you determine is needed for your project, but the effort level must vary from year to year Appropriate fringe benefits Graduate student tuition Required supplies Travel (domestic and/or foreign) Two PCs in year one and some additional supplies in each year Two pieces of required equipment in year one Required F&A costs In the budget justification, carefully explain every cost, including why personnel varies from year to year. You may consult the following webpage for information http://www.cs.unc.edu/Grants/ProposalPrep/http://www.cs.unc.edu/Grants/ProposalPrep/ or any department or university source as required. Asking for assistance from any source is encouraged and is not an honor code violation – copying another classmates work is a violation of the honor code!

59. Research Administration for Scientists