BUDGET

Many students have never prepared a grant-specific budget before, so we wanted to introduce you to some common terms and definitions for different spending categories in grant budgets. Please note that if you use this resource to help you prepare budgets for grant applications beyond the Office of Undergraduate Research, you should always look at specific program requirements about budget items you are allowed to include. When in doubt, always ask questions! Please find links to budget templates at the bottom of this page.

A budget is a plan for expenses (costs) and funding (where money will come from to cover the costs), and those two totals should match. A budget is an important part of the planning process.

  • A budget helps your program review committee get a clear sense of what you plan to do. It is not just a series of numbers; you need to justify the expenses and explain how your arrived at this projected number. You can use the note section to explain your math or to provide a link to the specific item you plan to buy.
  • If you are requesting  money for something in your budget, there should be enough context in the body of your proposal that the review committee is expecting the line item as an expense. If the expense isn’t contextualized in the body of your proposal, the committee is not likely to approve it.
  • Make your cost estimates credible and realistic. An inflated budget will weaken your proposal, but under-reporting expenses will create problems later because it will limit your ability to complete the project.
  • Once your budget gets approved, always seek the funder’s permission if you need or want to use grant monies differently than you proposed. If you do not spend all the money on your project, you need to return any overages.
RESEARCH-RELATED EXPENSE TERM EXPLANATIONS
  1. Consumable Materials are items that will be used up in the research process and can’t be re-used later, such as reagents. In many lab based fields, the budget may be comprised entirely of line items within this category.
  2. Non-Consumable Materials are items that can be used again at a later time after your project is complete, such as books that you are not able to get through the library.
  3. Equipment/Durable Goods are for items of lasting value.  It is not common for these items to be covered for student grants. If you request an item in this category for an AYURG, there is $100 max on the item.
  4. Research Subject Compensation is for when you are paying people to participate in your study.  Use the notes to explain specifics, such as cost per participant multiplied by the number of participants you plan on using.
  5. Fees can include charges for a service needed, software subscription, access to data, or for a registration cost, including from a partner or governmental institution.
  6. Transcription Services can cover the software cost to transcribe interviews or focus group sessions. With technological advancements, transcripts are now often captured as part of the recording, and then the researcher goes back and confirms the accuracy of the transcription.
  7. Living Expenses are sometimes covered by fixed-amount stipend grants such as the Summer URG. In this instance, you do not need to provide a budget to show how you plan to spend the living stipend.
TRAVEL-RELATED EXPENSE TERM EXPLANATIONS
  1. Airfare (round trip) costs should be based upon a search for the dates you plan to travel. It is not a good idea to list the lowest possible price, since the cost will probably go up while the application is under review. Enter a realistic mid-range price for your airfare.
  2. Local Travel Expenses can include per mile expenses if you are driving to a site or need to rent a car, local transit to/from an airport, or if you need regular transit access (i.e. a monthly CTA pass to be able to get to a site).
  3. Accommodations/Lodging covers overnight accommodations when you need to travel somewhere for your research. This could be a hotel, hostel, AirBnB, etc. Typically you would need to show the nightly cost multiplied by the number of days you need  to be in this location.
  4. Food costs should cover all of your eating during your trip. You want to determine a realistic amount per day based on the location, and then multiply by the number of days. Look up per diem rates for U.S. travel or for international travel.
INTERNATIONAL-RELATED EXPENSE TERM EXPLANATIONS
  1. Entry Visa or Visas costs will vary by country. Find the actual cost and learn the process for obtaining the visa(s). Here is a currency converter tool to help you figure the cost in U.S. dollars.
  2. Required Vaccines for each country can be found on the Centers for Disease Control web site. Check with your health care provider for prices.
  3. Recommended Vaccines for each country can be found on the Centers for Disease Control web site. Check with your health care provider for prices.
  4. Travel Health Insurance: 
    • Evanston students: required if traveling internationally. Please see OGSS website for details on how to purchase this through GeoBlue.
    • NUQ students: not applicable.
  5. Passport costs will be entered if you do not currently have a valid passport. More information can be found here: U.S. Department of State website.
POTENTIAL FUNDING EXPLANATION

At the very minimum, you will need to explain how you will cover the remaining expense on your project, as this shows feasibility of your plan to the faculty review committee.

In each line item, list the different programs/grants to which you are applying for funding. Indicate whether the funding is for different purposes (such as living expenses or to help cover an expensive airline ticket) or for the same purpose (such as two grants that you would choose between if offered both). Family contributions or money you’ve saved from a part-time job can be listed here as well. Please also indicate the status on other funding sources (i.e. applied or intend to apply, awarded, etc).

For the Undergraduate Language Grant, if you will be participating in a credit-bearing academic program and plan to apply for student loans or program scholarships, you may also list those funds as a resource. Contact the Financial Aid Office for eligibility and additional information.

BUDGET TEMPLATES

Click “Make a copy” in order to gain access to the template document for each grant. You can edit and download the template from there.