{"id":65,"date":"2014-01-10T00:22:30","date_gmt":"2014-01-10T00:22:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/research4agriculture\/?p=65"},"modified":"2014-01-10T00:22:30","modified_gmt":"2014-01-10T00:22:30","slug":"proposal-budgeting-101","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/research4agriculture\/2014\/01\/10\/proposal-budgeting-101\/","title":{"rendered":"Proposal Budgeting 101"},"content":{"rendered":"

I thought it might be helpful to point out a few important aspects of proposal budget development.\u00a0 This is something that is reviewed closely in our Office of Sponsored Programs so moving forward with a clear budget and justification will alleviate much of the last minute stress associated with looming proposal deadlines.<\/p>\n

#1<\/strong>: Start your proposal preparations with a draft budget.\u00a0 The budget will drive your objectives for the project and will help focus you on what is reasonable given the timeframe and budgetary restrictions.<\/p>\n

#2<\/strong>: These are the items I consider a \u201cmust have\u201d of any project development \u2013<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. personnel<\/span> – expressed as either FTE, months requested, or even hourly rates;<\/li>\n
  2. benefits or OPE<\/span> \u2013 don\u2019t forget the benefits and be sure to calculate these out separately from the salary base;<\/li>\n
  3. travel<\/span> \u2013 many sponsor require at least one person attend an annual meeting (read the guidelines carefully).\u00a0 This is also a great opportunity for graduate students &\/or post-doctoral scholars to work on their presentation skills, include some funds for them to participate as well.\u00a0 Travel includes mileage, parking, flights, hotel, per diem, transit, etc.;<\/li>\n
  4. supplies<\/span> \u2013 this is often greatly underestimated; look at a current project and what you spend monthly\u2026you\u2019ll be surprised at the cost of research disposables;<\/li>\n
  5. publications \/ dissemination costs<\/span> \u2013 include at least a little something to offset the costs associated with project dissemination; and finally<\/li>\n
  6. indirect or F&A costs<\/span> \u2013 don\u2019t forget to calculate indirect costs as they are a substantial part of your total costs.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    #3<\/strong>: There are a lot of resources but do pay close attention to current OPE, per diem, tuition, and indirect cost rates.\u00a0 It appears that \u201cResources\u201d may be the title of my next blog but I\u2019ve posted most of them on our resources webpage<\/a> (scroll to the bottom). There are also budget building templates there to assist.
    \nSome other quick points of clarification:<\/p>\n