A proposal budget reflects the Principal Investigator's best estimate of the costs for conducting the project within a defined time period. The time period is usually specified by the sponsor in the Request for Application (RFA) and most projects are funded for at least a one year period. OSP generally recommends an inflationary increase between 2-4% for all budget categories when appropriate.
In all cases the proposal budget should follow the sponsor’s published guidelines (included as part of the RFP or located on the sponsor’s website). Please see this excellent article [link] regarding why budget justifications are helpful to winning an award. When the sponsor does not provide a budget or budget justification template or related instructions, we recommend using the following budget guidelines with the understanding that there can be exceptions for each category.
Helpful information and tools for international projects can be found at Additional Information and Tools for International Projects.
Additionally, cost share is the portion of total project costs that are paid from sources other than the sponsor in order to complete the project's statement of work. Visit the Cost Share Policy page for more information regarding how to address cost sharing. Contact your OSP representative for further guidance.
For more information about each budget category, visit the Federal Uniform Guidance 2 CFR 200, MSU's Federal Cost Policy, and the following webpages:
