The proposal budget is the financial plan of action that reflects the costs required to perform the proposed work statement. The following information has been prepared to help you develop your budget plan. It is important to demonstrate that the budget proposed is reasonable.  

A budget justification should be submitted to allow for each budget category to be explained relative to the proposed research. The budget justification explains how the estimated costs for the categories were derived and explains the need for the cost. Budgets should be prepared for the entire proposed project.   

While our budget sheet template has been designed to make it easy for an applicant to complete it on their own, we encourage all applicants to consult with their local grant administrators to ensure that budgets are correctly completed.   

Download and save a copy of the CASI Seed Grant Program Flexible Budget Template.xlsx to your computer 

The following categories are generally included in the preparation of a proposal budget:  

• Salary: No PI/faculty support, only student support. However, no more than 10% of total funds can be used for student support (this includes salary and fringe)  
• Fringe benefits: Use University fringe rates 
• Materials & Supplies: Any consumable not falling into the category of equipment, as defined above.  
• Animals/Animal Care: Animal costs should reflect the type of animal, the number of animals and the unit cost per animal. Per Diem costs should list the number of days of Per Diem. Please refer to OAC for per diem rates.  
• Contractual Services: Fees and charges for specialized services, such as library access fees, laboratory analysis fees, consultant fees, subject fees, etc.  

Allowable costs include:   

• Graduate Research Assistants 
• AY Graduate Research Assistantships (20 hour/week).  Can choose GA level and specify percentage effort on the project. Total student salary and fringe not to exceed 10% of total funds. 
• Summer. You may request up to $2000 per student per annum. Total student salary and fringe not to exceed 10% of total funds. 
• Student Labor. Undergraduate student labor is paid on an hourly basis, plus fringe benefits. Please refer to the student employment website for levels of experience and compensation. Please enter the total amount you are budgeting for all undergraduate student labor costs. Total student salary and fringe not to exceed 10% of total funds. 
• Fringe costs  
• Materials and supplies  
• Animal/animal care costs  
• Contractual services (including fee-for-service contracts with partner institutions)   

Unallowable costs include:   

• Subawards to partner institutions  
• Faculty member salaries  
• Faculty Summer fellowship 
• Equipment 
• Clerical or administrative personnel salaries  
• Including personnel whose primary purpose is to explore funding sources and/or prepare grant applications  
• Service/maintenance contracts on equipment  
• Laboratory renovations, or other infrastructure renovations  
• Membership fees in professional organizations  
• Computers, laptops, tablets, or other standard office equipment (computers that serve a specialized research function beyond what standard office equipment can provide are allowable)  
• Travel related costs 
• Costs associated with the publication of results of the research including page charges, purchase of reprints, or journal costs.