The purpose of the justification is to explain all expenses required to achieve the project aims and
objectives. It should:

  • Follow sponsor proposal instructions, providing as much detail as needed
  • Explain why each of the requested items is necessary to accomplish the proposed
    research – don’t leave the reviewer wondering why an item was requested
  • Approach the budget from the perspective of what the sponsor needs to know, not from
    the perspective of what the PI wants
  • Unless sponsor requires it, it is not necessary to include dollar amounts in the narrative


Use the following as a general guide for the categories of your budget justification:


KEY/SENIOR PERSONNEL
For each PI, Co-PI, or Project Director, list name, title, amount of time to be spent on the project
and what s/he will accomplish.


Example: Dr. PI will serve as principal investigator and will commit two summer months of effort to
this project and will primarily be responsible for... A 3% salary increase has been budgeted in out
years as per standard MSU practice.


OTHER PERSONNEL
Include Research technicians, Postdoctoral fellows, Graduate & Undergraduate research assistants,
etc. When known, list name, title, amount of time to be spent on the project and what s/he will
accomplish.


Example: One post-doctoral fellow will be hired to work on this project. This individual will commit
12 calendar months and 100% of his or her time to this research. The post doc’s primary focus will
be on... A 3% salary increase has been budgeted in out years as per standard MSU practice.


Example: Sally Student will work as a graduate research assistant for this project and will commit 12
calendar months per year and dedicate 100% of her time during the nine months of the Academic Year
and 50% of her time during the three summer months to this research. Sally will be responsible for… A
3% salary increase has been budgeted in out years as per standard MSU practice.


BENEFITS
Benefits at MSU are estimates based on campus wide averages. The estimate for faculty and
professional is 37% and the estimate for classified is 47%. Students are 1% for full time and 9%
for part time. You may also budget the actual rates of the individual if that rate is known. Typically
your departmental accountant can provide an individual’s benefit rate.


TRAVEL
Explain the need for travel - how the travel will benefit the project’s aims - and your calculations of
travel costs for domestic and foreign travel. Break down by airfare, hotel, per diem, etc. Note that
the cost estimates for per diem, mileage, etc. are based on MSU Travel and/or federal foreign travel
rates.


Example: Domestic Travel – Dollar Amount Support is requested for Dr. PI and Dr. Co-PI to attend the
American Society for Cell Biology Association conference in project year 3 to share results. This
estimate is based on $500 airfare per person, $185 hotel per night per person for four nights, and
standard per diem rates used by Montana State University.


Example: Foreign Travel – Dollar Amount Support is requested for Dr. PI to travel to Costa Rica to collect
data from La Selva Biological Station. This estimate is based on $1500 airfare, $110 hotel per night
for 20 nights, and standard per diem rates used by Montana State University.


EQUIPMENT
Equipment is an item of durable value with an acquisition cost over $5000. List the equipment you
are requesting, including model name/number and price quotes from a vendor. Explain the
necessity of the equipment to the project.


Example: In order to complete Aim #2, a high power microscopy lens is required. This powerful lens
will enable researchers to detect the presence and number of damaged protons. This information
will enable faster analysis and reengineering of the experiment.


SUBCONTRACTOR
The MSU justification should focus on what the subcontractor is responsible for and why they
were chosen over any other subcontractor. The subcontractor should provide the budget
justification narrative for their own budget. These justifications should not be intermingled, i.e.,
the personnel section should NOT include MSU personnel and Subcontractor personnel.

Example: Funds are requested for Columbia University to perform all clinical trial work in year 2.
Columbia University was chosen because Dr. Fantastico is the leading expert in subject recruitment
and retention and because of his extensive experience with clinical trials dealing with TB strains
resistant to antibiotics. A detailed budget narrative for Columbia’s budget request is included for
reference.


OTHER COSTS
Costs can only be charged directly to a sponsor if they can be readily and specifically identified with
that project. Costs that are essential to the project’s research and which will be used solely for the
project may be budgeted with proper justification, so be as specific as possible. Always explain why
purchases are essential to the project’s aims and dedicated only to research on this project.


Example: Materials & Supplies: Test tubes, beakers, chemicals and lab consumables are required for
this project to complete the blood tests and analysis.


Example: Consultant: Jill Consultant, President of Cell Biology Data Systems, will consult with
project personnel on an ongoing basis, 2 trips per year, and 5 days each in Bozeman. She was
chosen because of her expertise in X. Dr. Consultant’s compensation rate is $300 per day. Airfare
is estimated at $700 per trip. Hotel is estimated at $135 per night and standard per diem rates
used by Montana State University will apply.


OTHER – AWARDS
Awards, also known as Tuition Remission: Indicate any tuition and fees for students (tuition
charged to a project as part of their compensation).

Example: Tuition for the graduate student is included and is charged in proportion to the amount of
effort the graduate student will work on the project. Tuition charges are exempt from Facilities &
Administrative costs.


Use the following checklist to review your budget justification:

  • Does the budget justification follow the same order as the budget?
  • Does it give additional details to explain the costs included in the budget?
  • Does it include only items that are allowable, reasonable, & allocable?
  • Is it easy to read (short paragraphs, headings to separate different budget categories, etc.)?
  • Is it concise? (no more than three pages for NSF)
  • Do the numbers in the budget justification match those in the budget?

 

Courtesy of Arizona State University Learning Sciences Institute (modified for MSU OSP 2016)

 

Budget Justification (Printable PDF)