Calculate comprehensive research budgets with our free research budget calculator. No registration, no fees - just systematic tools for planning and justifying grant proposal budgets.
What is a Research Budget?
A research budget is a detailed financial plan estimating all costs associated with conducting a research project. Grant applications require comprehensive budgets justifying every expense. Reviewers evaluate whether requested funding is appropriate, necessary, and reasonably priced. Well-constructed budgets demonstrate planning competence and increase funding probability.
Budget Components
- Personnel costs - Salaries, wages, fringe benefits
- Equipment - Major apparatus, computers, specialized tools
- Supplies - Consumables, minor equipment, materials
- Travel - Conferences, data collection, collaboration trips
- Participant costs - Incentives, compensation, recruitment
- Other direct costs - Subawards, consultants, services
- Indirect costs - Facilities and administrative overhead
Personnel Costs
Salary Calculations
Personnel typically represents the largest budget category:
Principal Investigator (PI)
- Annual salary: $120,000
- Percentage effort: 15% (academic year) + 2 months summer
- Calculation: ($120,000 × 0.15) + ($120,000 × 2/12) = $38,000/year
Graduate Research Assistant
- Stipend: $30,000/year × 2 years = $60,000
- Tuition remission: $25,000/year × 2 years = $50,000
- Total: $110,000
Project Coordinator (50% time)
- Annual salary: $50,000 × 50% × 3 years = $75,000
Fringe Benefits
Add fringe benefit rates (vary by institution):
- Faculty: Typically 25-35% of salary
- Staff: Typically 25-30% of salary
- Students: May include health insurance (~$3,000/year)
Example: $38,000 PI salary × 28% fringe = $10,640 in benefits
Salary Escalation
Include annual increases for multi-year projects:
- Year 1: $50,000
- Year 2: $50,000 × 1.03 = $51,500 (3% increase)
- Year 3: $51,500 × 1.03 = $53,045
Equipment Costs
Equipment Definition
Agencies define equipment as items costing above a threshold (typically $5,000) with useful life exceeding one year:
- Specialized laboratory equipment
- High-performance computers
- Audio/video recording systems
- Testing apparatus
Equipment Justification
Justify why equipment is necessary:
- Required for proposed methodology
- Not available through institutional resources
- Cost-effective compared to rental or service alternatives
- Will benefit multiple projects beyond funded work
Maintenance Costs
Some funders allow maintenance costs for specialized equipment:
- Service contracts
- Calibration services
- Software licensing fees
Supplies and Materials
Supply Categories
Detail consumable materials:
Laboratory supplies
- Reagents, chemicals, test kits
- Glassware, culture media
- Safety equipment
Office supplies
- Printing, copying
- Software subscriptions
- Cloud storage
Data collection materials
- Survey printing
- Gift card incentives
- Recording media
Per-Unit Costing
Provide unit costs for major supplies:
- DNA extraction kits: $15/kit × 200 samples = $3,000
- Survey printing: $0.50/survey × 1,000 surveys = $500
Travel Expenses
Conference Travel
Include professional development:
- Conference registration: $500
- Airfare: $800
- Hotel: $200/night × 4 nights = $800
- Per diem: $75/day × 4 days = $300
- Total per conference: $2,400
Data Collection Travel
Budget field site visits:
- Mileage: 500 miles × $0.67/mile = $335
- Lodging: $150/night × 3 nights = $450
- Meals: $60/day × 3 days = $180
Collaboration Travel
Include investigator meetings:
- Two annual meetings between collaborators at different institutions
- Travel costs for cross-site project coordination
Participant Costs
Incentive Payments
Compensate research participants:
- Survey completion: $25/participant × 150 participants = $3,750
- Interviews: $50/hour × 2 hours × 40 participants = $4,000
- Focus groups: $75/participant × 60 participants = $4,500
Recruitment Costs
Budget participant recruitment:
- Advertising (online, print, radio)
- Flyers and posters
- Recruitment staff time
Childcare and Transportation
Reduce participation barriers:
- Childcare during research visits: $15/hour
- Public transportation vouchers: $10/visit
- Parking validation
Other Direct Costs
Subawards
If partnering institutions conduct portions of research:
- Subaward amount
- Indirect costs on subaward (often capped at 8%)
- Scope of work justification
Consultant Fees
Expert consultation costs:
- Statistical consultant: $150/hour × 20 hours = $3,000
- Cultural advisor: $100/hour × 10 hours = $1,000
- Translation services: $0.25/word × 10,000 words = $2,500
Specialized Services
Outsourced technical services:
- Transcription: $1.50/minute × 60 interviews × 90 minutes = $8,100
- Data entry: $20/hour × 100 hours = $2,000
- Laboratory analyses: $500/sample × 50 samples = $25,000
Indirect Costs
Facilities and Administrative Costs (F&A)
Also called "overhead" or "indirect costs," F&A covers institutional expenses not directly attributable to specific projects:
- Building maintenance and utilities
- Library resources
- Administrative support (HR, accounting, grants management)
- General laboratory infrastructure
F&A Rates
Rates vary by institution and expense type:
- Modified Total Direct Costs (MTDC): Most common base, excludes equipment, participant incentives over $25k, and portions of subawards
- Typical rates: 45-60% for research universities, 8-10% for nonprofits
Example: $500,000 direct costs × 52% F&A rate = $260,000 indirect costs
F&A Rate Negotiations
Some funders:
- Cap indirect rates (e.g., 15%)
- Exclude indirect costs entirely
- Require institutional cost sharing for unrecovered F&A
Budget Justification
Detailed Explanations
Each budget line requires justification explaining:
- Why necessary: How item supports research objectives
- How calculated: Show computation (quantity × unit cost)
- Why reasonable: Justify pricing through quotes or established rates
Sample Justifications
Graduate Research Assistant: "We request two years of support for a doctoral student who will conduct literature review, assist with instrument development, collect and analyze data, and co-author publications. Two years allows adequate time for comprehensive training in mixed methods research while completing dissertation research aligned with project goals."
Transcription Services: "We will audio-record 60 semi-structured interviews averaging 90 minutes each. Professional transcription at $1.50/minute ensures accuracy while freeing research team time for analysis. Total: 60 interviews × 90 minutes × $1.50 = $8,100."
Multi-Year Budgets
Annual Budgets
Present separate budgets for each project year:
Year 1 Focus: Infrastructure development
- Equipment purchases
- Staff hiring and training
- Instrument development and piloting
Year 2 Focus: Data collection
- Peak participant recruitment
- Travel to field sites
- High consumable supply usage
Year 3 Focus: Analysis and dissemination
- Data analysis intensifies
- Conference travel increases
- Manuscript preparation
Cumulative Budgets
Also provide total costs across all years for each category and overall project cost.
Cost Sharing
Institutional Contributions
Some grants require cost sharing - institutional contributions beyond requested funding:
- Mandatory: Funder requires cost sharing
- Voluntary committed: Institution commits resources in proposal
- Voluntary uncommitted: Resources provided but not committed in proposal
Document cost-sharing:
- PI salary covered by institution
- Equipment provided by department
- Space allocation
Budget Alignment
Consistency with Methods
Budget must match proposed methods:
- If proposing 100 interviews, budget for 100 interviews
- If methodology requires specialized equipment, budget includes it
- If timeline shows three-year project, budget covers three years
Appropriate Sizing
Budget should be:
- Large enough to accomplish proposed work
- Not inflated beyond necessity
- Competitive with similar projects
Reviewers reject both underfunded projects unlikely to succeed and overfunded projects wasteful of resources.
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Stop submitting weak grant budgets that raise reviewer concerns. Create detailed, justified research budgets demonstrating thorough planning and appropriate resource requests.
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