Budget and Application Tools
DIRECT COSTS
Budgetary Considerations:
- In completing the budget, it is necessary to review the elements of the project as well as the sponsor guidelines.
- It is important to be cognizant of any sponsor restrictions regarding specific budgetary allowances or disallowances (e.g., one sponsor may allow the PI to charge salary, another may not).
- It is important to substantiate your budget with an explanation or a budget justification.
What are the common budgetary categories?
Salaries and Wages
All personnel are listed, along with their percentage of effort for the project, PI/PD first and students or clerical personnel last. If the amount of salary requested does not represent the percentage of effort, an explanation should be included on the budget justification.
Clerical Staff
If you intend to include clerical staff on your budget for a federal sponsor, one of the following reasons, or one similar in nature, must be included in your justification. These examples are not exhaustive nor are they intended to imply that charging of administrative or clerical salaries would always be appropriate for the situations illustrated:
- 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 that 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 where the 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 seagoing research vessels, radio astronomy projects, and other research field sites that are remote from the campus.
- Individual projects requiring significant amounts of project-specific database management; individualized graphics or manuscript preparation; human or animal protocol, IRB preparations and/or other project-specific regulatory protocols; and multiple project-related investigator coordination and communications.
Fringe Benefits
Unless specifically called “stipends” by the sponsor (as in most fellowships), all salaries must be accompanied by fringe benefits, whether the individuals are working full or part time on the project. The most current fringe benefit rates can be found on the Office of Sponsored Programs website. Please note that there are different rates for Research Foundation employees, State employees, graduate students, undergraduate students and summer only appointments.
For a student to be eligible for the student rate, the following must apply:
- Undergraduate students must be enrolled full time at a SUNY institution and must meet the criteria for and are appointed to one of the following titles: R267 (Research Aide), R268 (Senior Research Aide). All other undergraduate student salaries will be charged at the regular employee rate.
- Graduate students must be enrolled full time at a SUNY institution and must meet the criteria for and are appointed to one of the following titles: R149 (Project Instructional Assistant), R150 (Research Project Assistant), R267 (Research Aide) or R268 (Senior Research Aide). All other graduate student salaries will be charged the regular employee rate.
Equipment
Equipment is defined as having a useful life of at least one year and an acquisition cost of $5,000 or more. Items not meeting this definition are considered supplies. Some sponsors may have their own definitions of equipment. Generally, we would subscribe to the sponsor’s definition. If you have any questions, please contact your Grants Administrator at 632-9949.
Travel
Domestic and foreign travel should be listed as two line items, unless specified otherwise by the sponsor. The purpose of the trips, the destinations, number of travelers, number of trips and other costs should be discussed in the budget justification. It is a requirement on federal awards to use U.S. flag carriers to foreign destinations or, in the absence of through service, to the farthest interchange point.
Participant Support Costs
For programs relating to conferences, symposia, meetings, training activities or workshops, include costs of transportation, per diem, stipends and other related costs for participants or trainees.
Patient Care Costs
Routine medical costs that would normally have taken place and are now within the scope of the research, i.e., x-rays, blood tests, EKG, travel costs associated with diagnostic testing, personnel cost for medical procedures (i.e, technician or nurse).
Alterations and Renovations
Alterations and renovations required for project performance and having a cost of $15,000 or more per alteration or renovation.
Materials and Supplies
The costs of materials or supplies needed to do the project.
Publications
The costs of disseminating and sharing research findings in the process of documenting, preparation, and publication.
Consultants
List the name and daily amount for each consultant. Any travel for the consultant is listed in the this category. Some federal sponsors have established daily rates. Stony Brook faculty cannot be paid as consultants on a Stony Brook award. They are considered collaborators. (see Section V, Consultants).
Computer Services
Costs of computer time and related support services, calculated according to an approved rate schedule for the facility concerned.
Subcontracts
Costs for performance and completion of a designated portion of project objectives executed by an organization other than Stony Brook. The total amount (direct and indirect costs) of the subcontractor budget are listed as direct costs on the Stony Brook budget. The amount is to be documented by the subcontractor's institutionally endorsed letter of intent (use the Stony Brook Letter of Intent Form found on the Office of Sponsored Programs website), scope of work, and budget with justification, which is to be included in the application. (see Section VI, Contractual/Consortium Arrangement Requirements).
Tuition
Unless prohibited by sponsor policy, all proposals which budget support for a graduate student must also budget tuition costs of $4,188 for each academic year. More information and instruction can be found on the The Graduate School website.
Other
This category is used for items that are not suitable for any other category. A detailed list should be included in the budget justification.
FACILITY & ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS (F&A)
The latest policy and rates can be found at http://www.stonybrook.edu/research/spo/RateAgreement01192007.pdf or call 632-9949
What are Facility and Administrative Cost, also known as IDC Cost?
F&A or IDC Costs are real costs incurred by the University/Center and Institution in support of research/sponsored activities but cannot be identified with a specific award. The cost result from shared services such as libraries, utility costs, general departmental, unit/school and sponsored program’s administrative expenses and depreciation for buildings and equipment.
Who sets the IDC/F&A rate?
SUNY Stony Brook in conjunction with The Research Foundation of State University of New York applies each year for rate renewal and approval through its cognizant agency. Currently SUNY Stony Brook’s cognizant agency is The Department of Health and Human Services
How can I find a listing of SUNY Stony Brook’s current approved rates?
An up to date listing on the SUNY Stony Brook approved IDC/F&A rates are listed on this web site or you can contact your Sponsored Program representative.
What types of rates are there?
There are many different types of rates the most common are: Total Direct Cost (TDC), Modified Total Direct Cost (MTDC), Sponsor Set, Administrative, Evaluative and Testing and Other Sponsored Programs. The most common is MTDC.
What does MTDC mean?
Modified Total Direct Cost is calculated by excluding alterations and renovations having a cost of $15,000 or more, in/out patient care, rental maintenance of off-site activities, student tuition, participant support cost (student aid, stipends, travel, etc.), amounts over the first $25,000 of each subcontract and equipment over $5,000. Most federal programs use this rate.
What is the difference between MTDC and TDC?
Total direct cost include all cost associated with a sponsored project including those items excluded in Modified Total Direct Cost
Are these rates prorated if I am not doing all of my work on campus?
Yes, There is also a rate for work totally done off campus. To determine the off and on campus rate, only the Stony Brook personnel effort is considered (effort on any subcontract is excluded). After determining the amount of all effort, ascertain the effort that is only for off campus. The effort for off campus is divided by the total effort. The closest increment to 25%, 50%, 75% or 100% is considered as the off-campus percentage.
What is an Administrative rate used for?
Administrative rates applies to funds received in support of research or training activities where the sponsor provides the funds in advance and without further obligation on the part of the institution: no constraints on how the funds may be used, no financial or technical reporting requirements, no claims to copyright nor other claims to the ownership or licensing of intellectual properties.
This rate should also be used for:
- Income from external sources deposited to Service and Facility Accounts and Copyright and/or licenses not flowing through the Campus Royalty distribution policy and other authorized income accounts.
- Fellowship awards from sponsors who do not have their own policy.
- Awards made specifically and solely for support of a conference, seminar, or workshop to be held at the Stony Brook campus.
What is an Evaluative Testing rate used for?
The Evaluative Testing rate is used for agreements with companies providing a specific company-issued protocol to be used in testing and evaluating a new or investigational device, drug, or compound that they own. Such testing must be required to obtain or maintain federal government approval.
What is a Sponsor Set rate?
Some sponsors may have their own policy on these types of costs all. If you run across a situation like this make sure to include documentation on the rate allowed in COEUS.
Unless there is a written Facility and Administrative (F&A) sponsor policy, full F&A recovery must be included in your budget. Institutional support for Facility & Administrative cost is orchestrated in advance by the Office of the Vice President for Research, however, is fully funded by departments, chairs or deans and not by the Office of the Vice President for Research. Efforts to waive a sponsor’s share of F&A costs to enhance competitiveness remain the fiscal responsibility of the unit(s) benefiting by the waiver. (See Section VII, University Support)
| Title: | Budget Calculation Worksheet | |
| Purpose: | Calculate Budgets for single year or multi-year proposals | |
| Contact: | Your Grant/Contract Administrator | |
| Last Updated: | March 30, 2012 | |
| Download Form: |  |
FRINGE BENEFIT RATES
The Research Foundation has been notified that the fringe benefit rates for FY 2013 (7/1/12 - 6/30/13) (fixed) have been approved by DHHS. The updated rates are attached below and are to be effective immediately in proposal budget creation.
Memo updated March 2012. The entire memo can be accessed here.| DATES | EMPLOYEES | UNDERGRADUATE1 | GRADUATE2 | SUMMER ONLY3 | COST SHARING FACULTY OFFSET |
|
7/1/12 |
43% |
5% |
14.5% |
17% |
50.16%4 |
|
7/1/13 |
43% |
5% |
14.5% |
17% |
50.16%9 |
|
7/1/14 |
43% |
5% |
14.5% |
17% |
50.16%9 |
|
all future years |
Use 43% |
Use 5% |
Use 14.5% |
Use 17% |
Use 50.16%9 |
1 Applies only to full time SUNY undergraduate students who meet the criteria for and are appointed to one of the following titles: Research Aide, Senior Research Aide or Camp Counselor. All other undergraduate student salaries will be charged the regular employee rate.
2 Applies only to full time SUNY graduate students who meet the criteria for and are appointed to one of the following titles: Project Instructional Assistant, Research Project Assistant, Research Graduate Assistant, Research Aide or Senior Research Aide. All other graduate student salaries will be charged the regular employee rate.
3 Applies only to employees whose appointments fall wholly within the summer and who meet the criteria set forth by Employee Services and Human Resources, some of which appear on the reverse of this advisory.
4 A breakdown of the fringe benefits components can be found on the reverse side of this sheet.
5 Pending DHHS Approval.
6 Fringe Benefit Rate for Transfers to NY State Salary Offset accounts and Cost Sharing Budgets. This is the actual NY State rate, and is no longer included in the Fringe Benefit Pool.
7No fringe is associated with the cost sharing of undergraduate or graduate students as defined above.
8Pending approval of NYS Office of State Controller.
9The NYS Office of State Controller has not issued any information relating to future years. We are suggesting you use the rate pending approval of the NYS OSC for FY12.
Information Frequently Requested by Sponsors
| Legal Name/Application Organization Information | The Research Foundation for SUNY Stony Brook University |
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| Mailing Address - Payments & Checks Only | The Research Foundation for State University of New York P.O. Box 9 Albany, New York 12201-0009 Attn: Cash Receipt Department |
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| Mailing Address - Award Notices Contracts & Related Correspondence |
The Research Foundation for SUNY Office of Sponsored Programs Stony Brook University Stony Brook, NY 11794-3362 |
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| Location: Stony Brook is located in | Suffolk County, NY Congressional District No. 1 NY State Assembly District No. 4 NY State Senate District No. 1 |
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| Cognizant Audit Agency | Dept. of Health and Human Services Regional Audit Office 26 Federal Plaza New York, NY 10278 |
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| Electronic Payment Only | Key Bank of New York 66 South Pearl Street Albany, NY 12207-1501 Routing #: ABA 0213-00077 Account #: 10970107 |
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| IRS Employee Number | 14-1368361 | ||||||||
| Human Subjects Assurance of Compliance Number | FWA00000125 | ||||||||
| Animal Welfare Assurance Number | A3011-01 | ||||||||
| NSF Submitting Institution Code | 0028381000 | ||||||||
| DUNS Number | 804878247 | ||||||||
| NIH Entity Number (EIN) | 1-146013200-F7 | ||||||||
| Commercial & Governmental Entity (CAGE) Code | 3GPV4 | ||||||||
| Registered in the CCR (Central Contractor Register) | Yes | ||||||||
| Frequently used NAICS Codes: |
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F&A (IDC) RATES
| Year | Research On Campus |
Research Off Campus |
Instruction On Campus |
Instruction Off Campus |
| 7/1/12 - 6/30/13 |
57%
|
26%
|
53%
|
26%
|
| 7/1/13 - 6/30/14 |
57.5%
|
26%
|
53%
|
26%
|
| 7/1/14 - 6/30/15 |
58%
|
26%
|
53%
|
26%
|
|
Year
|
DOD Contracts
On Campus |
DOD Contracts
Off Campus |
||
| 7/1/11 - 6/30/15 |
59.5%
|
30%
|
||
|
Year
|
Other Sponsored Programs
On Campus |
Other Sponsored Programs
Off campus |
||
| 7/1/11 - 6/30/15 |
35%
|
26%
|
||
|
Year
|
Interpersonnel Agreement On/Off Campus
|
|||
| 7/1/11 - 6/30/15 |
8.5%
|
|||
Memo and Policy
The F&A (IDC) Rates memo dated February 9, 2012 can be accessed here.The F&A (IDC) Campus Policy can be accessed here.
F&A (IDC) Waivers
The campus does not waive F&A (IDC) costs. Since they are a legitimate expense to the campus in support of sponsored project activity, F&A costs must be recovered from sponsored projects in accordance with the campus' F&A cost policy. Any indirect costs not recovered become cost sharing on the part of the campus. The campus policy provides for F&A cost recovery at less than its audited rate provided the rate in question is the formal, uniformly applied rate of the sponsor or a special campus rate. In the absence of a specified formal lower rate, the appropriate Federal rate must be requested. If the request for recovery of indirect costs at the sponsor's formal rate will affect the competitiveness of a proposal to a given sponsored program, the proposal may be submitted with reduced indirect costs as long as the proposing unit agrees, in writing, to reimburse the campus for lost F&A revenue from resources under its control.
F&A (IDC) RATE BASICS
The total cost of a sponsored program (be it research, education, or public service based) consists of both direct and indirect costs. Direct Costs are specifically and clearly identifiable to the specific project. At Stony Brook, direct costs include, but are not limited to, salaries and wages for project personnel, associated fringe benefits, equipment, consumable supplies, travel, technical services, etc. Direct costs are incurred at the discretion of the investigator, in accordance with sponsor regulations and University/Campus and Research Foundation policies and procedures.
Facility and Administrative Costs (sometimes referred to as indirect costs, overhead, administrative allowance, or occasionally, institutional allowance,) are costs incurred in support of sponsored programs, in general, but not identifiable with any single project. Facility and Administrative Costs generally consist of sponsored program and general administration such as payroll and purchasing, and general institutional support services such as building maintenance, libraries, etc.
Reimbursement of Facility and Administrative Costs to educational institutions is predicated upon use of an indirect cost rate. This rate is developed in accordance with the cost principles specified by the Federal Government in OMB Circular A-21. The rate is reviewed and approved every three years by our cognizant audit agency, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS).
The Facility and Administrative Cost rate is applied across a base consisting of all direct project costs (other than equipment, rental of outside facilities, amounts over the first $25,000 of each sub-contract, participant support, and alterations/renovations totaling $15,000 or more). The rate is termed a Modified Total Direct Cost (MTDC) rate. Separate rates are developed for grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements that (1) support research and/or clinical activities and that (2) support training and other educational activities.
The following special rates may be used when the below criteria(s) apply:
Organized Research Rate1 will be applied to contracts/cooperative agreements and grants in support of Research and Evaluative Testing (as defined below).
7/1/10 – 6/30/13 57.0% MTDC2 On Campus 26% MTDC2 Off Campus4
7/1/13 – 6/30/14 57.5% MTDC2 On Campus 26% MTDC2 Off Campus4
7/1/14 – 6/30/15 58.0% MTDC2 On Campus 26% MTDC2 Off Campus4
Other Sponsored Programs Rate will be applied on both Federal and Non-Federal Projects for which the activity is other than research and instruction. The Other Sponsored Programs rate is applied to federally-funded clinical trials (including federal-flow through via subawards), evaluative testing (as defined below), and public service projects.
7/1/11 – 6/30/15 35.0% MTDC2 On Campus 26% MTDC2 Off Campus4
Instruction Rate will be applied to both Federal (including federal flow-through) and Non-Federal sponsored projects for programs whose principal purpose is instruction.
7/1/11-60/30/15 53% MTDC2 On Campus 20% MTDC2 Off Campus
Clinical Trials Rate will be applied to all Clinical Trials (as defined below) funded by private sponsors.
25% TDC3
Administrative Rate will be applied to unrestricted gifts and other funds received in support of organized research or training activities where the sponsor provides the funds in advance and without further obligation on the part of the institution: i.e., no constraints on how the funds may be used, no financial or technical reporting requirements, and no deliverables.
This rate will also be applied to funds from: External Sources deposited to Service and Facility Accounts; Materials Transfer Agreements; NYS Industrial Contracts affiliated with Centers for Advanced Technology, Center for Biotechnology and the SPIR Program; Phase 1 subcontracts as part of STTR/SBIR awards; Fellowship Awards unless a rate is specified by the sponsor; and awards made specifically and solely for support of a conference, seminar, or workshop to be held at the Stony Brook Campus.
15% TDC3
Interpersonnel Agreement (IPA) Rate will be applied to federal funds received to support expenses incurred by institution when faculty are involved in an assignment to that federal entity. These awards typically reimburse the institution for salaries, fringe benefits and travel expenses.
8.5% MTDC2
1 Rates approved by DHHS in an agreement dated 2/9/12.
2 MTDC = Total Direct Costs less equipment, tuition/fees, participant support, in/out patient care costs, rental of outside facilities, amounts over the first $25,000 of each subcontract, and alterations/renovations. Alterations/Renovations are defined as having a cost of $15,000 or more per alteration or renovation. Cost of less than $15,000 are considered a miscellaneous expense.
3TDC= Total Direct Costs
4 Projects conducted in whole, or in part, off campus may apply the off-campus rate to that percentage of the project that is performed off campus. Percentages shall be rounded to the nearest 25%. No greater level of refinement is permitted.
Projects conducted in whole at the following Stony Brook locations are considered off campus: Hospital, Technology Park, Cancer Center, GCRC, and off-site clinical offices.
Definitions:
Evaluative Testing:
a. An evaluative testing agreement for which the Research and Development Rate applies is defined as any agreement with a private sponsor with a protocol developed by either Sponsor, University Principal Investigator, University Principal Investigator with direction from Sponsor or Sponsor with direction from University Principal Investigator; the protocol is moderately specific and leaves room for the University Principal Investigator to experiment or interject his or her own ideas; where the type of work required is characterized as testing of the private sponsor’s proprietary product (e.g. a new or investigational device, drug, material or compound) and the deliverable will be provided to sponsor in the form of expert data analysis and interpretation from University. Such testing or studies cannot involve contact with human subjects.
b. An evaluative testing agreement for which the Other Sponsored Programs Rate applies is defined as any agreement with a private sponsor providing a company-developed protocol that specifies all procedures in detail and leaves no room for the University Principal Investigator to experiment on his or her own; where the type of work required is characterized as testing of the private sponsor’s proprietary product (e.g. a new or investigational device, drug, material or compound) and the deliverable must be raw data which cannot include any interpretation. Such testing or studies cannot involve contact with human subjects.
Note: The Clinical Trial rate applies to any testing or studies that involve human subjects.
Clinical Trials:
A clinical trial agreement for which the Clinical Trial Rate applies is a controlled, clinical testing in human subjects of investigational new drugs, devices, treatments, or diagnostics, or comparisons of approved drugs, devices, treatments, or diagnostics, to assess their safety, efficacy, benefits, costs, adverse reactions, and/or outcomes. Such studies may be conducted under an industry-developed protocol or an investigator-developed protocol.
1. The objective of the study is either:
a. testing of a drug, device, diagnostic, treatment, intervention, or preventive measures including testing for an unapproved indication or
b. data collection, or review of data generated or acquired in a clinical setting, to increase knowledge that would lead to enhanced safety and efficacy of a drug or device.
2. The study must involve contact with human subjects or the review of patient care clinical data
3. The study must be performed primarily in patient care or clinical space
4. The study must be industry-funded.
