Proposal Preparation

Summer Salary

• Academic year faculty can take up to three months of summer salary from all sources of sponsored funding.  A budget for a one-semester course buyout would be 12.5% of the academic year salary. The budget for one month of faculty summer salary is 11.1% of the academic year salary. 
• When budgeting for course buyout or faculty summer salary, use these percentages as the cost-of-living adjustments for the academic year salary:

                                                                  FY25 3.25%      FY26 3.50%

• For the years beyond the union contract duration, a cost-of-living increase of 3.50% yearly should be used.

Fringe

• The faculty’s summer salary should be budgeted at a fringe rate of 7.65%.  For FY25, course release fringe is budgeted at 72.94% for non-federal proposals and 29.96% for federal proposals.

This fluctuates widely depending on the task(s) required and the experience level of the consultant. For estimating purposes, use $100 per hour until a firm price from the consultant is received.

Similarly, this varies from project to project. For estimating purposes, use $100 per hour until a firm quote from the programmer is available.

Research assistant: Works with a researcher on a specific area of inquiry; may record and analyze data, conduct literature reviews, collect abstract information, develop research protocols, conduct focus groups and interviews, and complete IRB forms. A research assistant will work up to 10 hours a week; the compensation is $6,300 for a 15-week semester, or more than $28 an hour.

Hourly paid student worker: When you are unsure how much work you will need from a student worker week to week, you should hire the student as hourly paid. The minimums for hourly paid students are $15.50 for undergraduates and $25 for graduate students.

Rates are determined by the budget, task complexity, and experience level. Simple tasks like filing and photocopying are at the lower end of the range, while complex tasks such as computer programming or data collection are at the higher end. More experienced individuals receive higher rates. In special cases, rates may be above the specified range, but may require justification.

Role

A Graduate Assistant (GA) is a graduate student, primarily working in research, paid directly by the university, or under a grant or contract with other agencies, normally for a maximum of 15 hours per week.

Salary

These are the minimum base salaries for GAs as determined by the union contract:

Academic Year GA Salaries

FY24-25 $36,395

FY 25-26 $40,000

FY 26-27 $42,000 (tentative)

Calendar Year GA Salaries

FY24-25 $41,854

FY25-26 $46,000

FY26-27 $48,300.00 (tentative)

Fringe

Most benefits included in the state’s fringe benefit rate of 36.84% for nonfederal awards and 22.33% for federal awards for these positions apply to Rutgers employees, including pension/retirement, health insurance, unemployment insurance, and disability insurance.

Tuition

GAs receive an in-state tuition rate when their research work is supported by a grant project. This rate also applies to those receiving tuition remission funded through training grants or Rutgers University resources.  GA positions under the union contract include salary, tuition, and fees (i.e., general student, school, and technology).

Fees

For New Brunswick graduate schools, nine credits per semester are considered full-time for assessing fees.

Mandatory FY25 fees per semester

• Student: $891.50
• School: $216.50
• Technology: $204.50

         Total fees: $1,312.50

Sample FY25 GA Costs to Research Proposals (In-State Rate Tuition Rate)

$41,854 (calendar year salary) + 22.33% (federal fringe=$9,346) + ($20,616 tuition) + $2,625 (fees) = $74,441

$41,854 (calendar year salary) + 36.84% (nonfederal fringe=$15,419) + ($20,616 tuition) + $2,625 (fees) = $80,514

$36,395 (academic year salary) + 22.33% (federal fringe=$8,127) + ($20,616 tuition) + $2,625 (fees) = $67,763

$36,395 (academic year salary) + 36.84% (nonfederal fringe=$13,408) + ($20,616 tuition) + $2,625 (fees) = $73,044

Typical rates are  $75 -$100 per hour. The variability depends upon the complexity of the transcription. For example, a simple question and answer of an individual with the researcher will come in at the lower end of the range, while complicated focus group discussions with multiple speakers will come in at the higher end. The rate may also be affected by the level of jargon in the recordings. If the work includes the frequent use of medical terminology, or any terminology specific to a topic that does not use standard English, the rate will come in at the higher end of the range. 

The typical cost of a professional translator’s services can run from $0.10 to $0.30 per word, depending on the language being translated, the quality of the translation, the requested turnaround time, and other factors.

There are standard estimates for domestic travel based on typical SC&I costs for conferences, where investigators can disseminate the results of their research. Investigators should use their best judgment in budgeting according to their destination. 

• Ground transportation to/from your home to the airport @ $75.00 each way, $150.00 round trip.
• Airfare within the continental U.S. @ $700.00.
• Hotel costs @ $225.00 per night x # of days of the conference.
• Per diem  @ $100.00 per day x number of days of the conference.
• Ground transportation to/from your hotel to the airport @ $75.00 each way, $150.00 round trip.
• Conference registration and membership fees @ $500.00.

Therefore, this would be the estimated cost for a 5-day conference:  

• Ground transportation to/from your home to the airport @ $75.00 each way, $150.00 round trip.
• Airfare within the continental U.S. @ $700.00.
• Hotel costs @ $225.00 per night x 5 days of the conference = $1,125.00.
• Per diem @ $100.00 per day x 5 days of the conference = $500.00.
• Ground transportation to/from your hotel to the airport @ $75.00 each way, $150.00 round trip.
• Conference registration and membership fees @ $500.00.

The total cost of the trip is $3,125.00, a standard base. If you know what conference(s) you’ll be attending, adjust the number of days or registration fees accordingly. The per diem for a city, conference registration and membership, airfare, or ground transport can vary. The cost will accrue should the project be awarded, and travel taken. When the travel is for data collection (as opposed to conference travel), the above scenario for estimating purposes will stand, other than the registration fee.

Notably, for airfare billable to federal grants, the first choice must be an airline based in the United States due to the “Fly America Act.” If a destination is not accessible using a U.S. airline, an international airline may be used.

Additional justification is often required if international travel is requested. Examples may include data collection, alternating conferences, and collaboration with international partners. If conferences in your field alternate venues among U.S./Europe/Asia, list them by name in the justification. There are standard estimates for international travel based on typical SC&I costs for conferences. The standard can be used for estimating the cost of attendance at a conference to disseminate the results of your research:  

• Ground transportation to/from your home to the airport @ $75.00 each way, $150.00 round trip.
• International airfare @ $1,500.00.
• Hotel costs @ $225.00 per night x # of days of the conference.
• Per diem @ $110.00 per day x number of days of the conference.
• Ground transportation to/from your hotel to the airport @ $75.00 each way, $150.00 round trip.
• Conference registration and membership fees @ $750.00.

Therefore, this would be the estimated cost for a 5-day conference:  

• Ground transportation to/from your home to the airport @ $75.00 each way, $150.00 round trip.
• International airfare @ $1,500.00.
• Hotel costs @ $225.00 per night x 5 days of the conference = $1,125.
• Per diem  @ $110.00 per day x 5 days of the conference = $550.00.
• Ground transportation to/from your hotel to the airport @ $75.00 each way, $150.00 round trip.
• Conference registration and membership fees @ $750.00.

The total cost of the trip is $4,225.00, a standard base. If you know what conference(s) you’ll be attending, adjust the number of days or registration fees accordingly. The per diem for a specific city, conference registration and membership, airfare, or ground transport can vary. The cost will accrue should the project be awarded, and travel taken. When the travel is for data collection (as opposed to conference travel), the above scenario for estimating purposes will stand, other than the registration fee.

Notably, for airfare billable to federal grants, the first choice must be on an airline based in the U.S. due to the “Fly America Act.” If a destination is not accessible using a U.S. airline, an international airline may be used.

In most cases, SC&I faculty are paid an academic year salary with payments disbursed across the calendar year. This makes it possible to receive additional salary for research performed over the summer. The summer salary from multiple projects can be combined to total three months, but if so, the researcher must sign a memo waiving their vacation for that year. In most cases, a researcher will receive one week to two months of summer salary, depending on which grants are in force in a particular summer.

For NSF proposals, researchers cannot exceed two months of pay from all agency-funded grants, so the request for summer pay will be reviewed accordingly.

Each month of summer salary equates to 11.1% effort.

It is possible to bill a grant for a percent of the researcher’s academic year time without actually taking a course buyout. The funds that SC&I saves with this approach enable the researcher to receive a portion of salary savings back, which then is deposited into the faculty member’s research support account.

Similar to how cost-sharing works, there are three basic types of percent of effort:

• Mandatory Committed effort is required by the terms of the sponsored program and must be included and budgeted as part of the award. It is explicitly required by the notice of funding opportunity and must be included in the proposal for consideration by the sponsor.
• Voluntary Committed effort is not required by the terms of the sponsored program but is included and budgeted as part of the award. It is not expected by the sponsor in the proposal and cannot be considered a factor of merit review unless criteria are explicitly described in the notice of funding opportunity.
• Voluntary Uncommitted effort is not required by the terms of the sponsored program and is not included or budgeted as part of the program. It is neither proposed nor expected but may occur during program administration.

All these types of effort together constitute the total percent of effort performed on a project.

An example of how this would work is as follows:

• Grant A: In FY24, two months of summer salary.
• Grant B: In FY24, a course release for the fall semester would be 1.13 months, plus one month of summer salary.
• Grant C:  Submitting a proposal starting in FY24 that includes a course release in the spring semester would be 1.13 months plus one month of summer salary. In this example, you would need to get permission to include the course release in your proposal.  (2+1.13+1.13+1=5.26.  5.26/12 months = 43.83% effort.)

The actual effort performed on grants in force should not exceed 40%, but researchers can propose more than allowed to ensure that they have 40% devoted to research based on what is awarded. Should faculty members be awarded in a manner that exceeds 40% effort on research, they can work with the Associate Dean of Research and the assigned Business Specialist on a plan to ameliorate the circumstance of being overcommitted.

For most federal agency submissions (e.g., NSF, NIH, etc.) you will have to convert your percent of effort budgeted on the project to “person months.”  

Definition and examples of how to calculate person months follow: A “person month” is the metric for expressing the effort (amount of time) principal investigators (PIs), faculty, and other senior personnel devote to a specific project. The effort is based on the type of appointment of the individual with the organization; e.g., calendar year (CY), academic year (AY), and/or summer term (SM); and the organization’s definition of such. 

Useful tools for: Person-months Excel calculator. 

Please contact your assigned Business Specialist for assistance with calculating person months on your grant proposal. 

1. Facilities & Administrative costs (F&A)—also referred to as Indirect Costs (IDC) or Overhead Costs—are associated with the infrastructure that supports the research enterprise (buildings, maintenance, libraries, staff support, among others).
2. F&A rates are also referred to as Indirect Cost Rates (ICR) and are negotiated with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The ICR is typically renegotiated with the DHHS every couple of years. Most proposals require the submission of (or link to) the most current RU-negotiated ICR letter (typically found in the budget justification). Rutgers University requires that F&A costs be included in proposal budgets and recovered based on the University’s Federally Negotiated Rate Agreement.  RU’s F&A details and rates can be found in the Rutgers F&A Rate Agreement.
3. The F&A rate (for federal agencies) for FY24 was 57% of modified total direct costs.  Since the F&A rate is renegotiated every few years, the rate applied could vary throughout a multiyear project; some rate adjustments are applied retroactively. Therefore, it is easy to surpass the budget cap for total funding.
   • Examples of indirect costs include the salary and related expenses of individuals working in central administration roles, such as accounting, HR, purchasing, and expenditures (e.g., rent, depreciation, and utilities).
   • For an example of IDC, if the total budget cap for an NSF proposal is $200,000, you can spend about $127,388 on direct project costs. The F&A at 57% of direct costs works out to be roughly $73,077.
4. Some government agencies and nonprofits do not pay the University’s F&A cost rate and Rutgers may accept a lower rate under the following conditions:
   • The sponsor is a federal, state, or local government agency that, by agency policy or legislation, will not pay the University’s F&A rate. This policy is published in agency guidelines and is applied uniformly to all award recipients.
   • The sponsor is a private, not-for-profit organization that has an official written policy of paying an F&A cost rate lower than the University’s and the rate is applied uniformly to all award recipients.
5. When a sponsor’s F&A rate is lower than the University’s approved rate, the rate is then applied to all costs (Total Direct Costs, NOT Modified Total Direct Costs), unless the sponsor specifically excludes certain categories. MTDC is typically in force for federal proposals. The appropriate rate(s) will be determined during the budgeting process by the Assigned Business Specialist.

To calculate the MTDC base, the following should be excluded from the direct cost:

1. Equipment over $5,000;
2. Tuition;
3. Stipends;
4. Subcontracts after the first $25,000 (for each subcontract);
5. Participant support;
6. Rental of Space

• Request for Facilities and Administrative (Indirect) Cost Reduction/Waiver:
  • Rutgers ‘policy is that all sponsored research be charged the full cost of an externally funded project including all grants, contracts, or other types of agreements. This includes direct costs (allowable costs such as salaries, supplies, etc., used to perform the project) and indirect costs (F&A). However, if a reduction is required, work with the Assigned Business Specialist to request a Cost Reduction Waiver (Form).
• The State of NJ-funded projects typically only allow 10 percent F&A.

• Most salaries for RU employees in a proposal budget need a fringe percentage added to pay for costs such as health insurance, retirement benefits, etc.  
• The fringe rate applied to salary depends on the class of employee (e.g., full-time, part-time, faculty, postdoc, staff, graduate student, undergraduate), or whether the sponsor is federal or not.  These percentages can range from approximately 71.60% to 7.65% to 0% above and beyond the salary amount.
• Rutgers develops and submits its fringe benefit rates annually to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Cost Allocation Services (DHHSCAS), our federal cognizant audit agency for approval. Once approved, the final negotiated fringe benefit rates become effective July 1 of the fiscal year noted. This often is applied retroactively because the approved rate may not come through by July 1.  
• Once a final rate is approved, recalculations can occur. If this causes a project to go over budget, costs must be removed because no additional funding will be awarded to address the fringe rate adjustment.  
• Current Rates 

Cost-share is the project costs not paid by the sponsor. Resources dedicated to cost share may draw from contributions, donations, ICR funds, or proportional matching from the University and/or external third party (“in-kind”) entities. Cost-share of effort can be substituted for a true cash match in some cases as determined through a review of the sponsor’s guidelines.  Cost-share is only based on awards already made – not on pending funding in other proposals.  

There are three types of cost-share associated with sponsored programs:  Salaries and Wages, Participant Support and Human Subjects.

Salaries and wages are paid to people working on the research project itself, including Principal Investigators, postdocs, researchers, graduate assistants, trainers, or others needed to direct or assist and carry out the project or training. Participants are the recipients of the particular training envisioned by the grant or contract and can be paid participant support as compensation for training materials costs, transportation costs, or housing costs incurred while the training is in force. Human subjects are those on whom the research is being performed. Tasks undertaken by human subjects can include completing surveys in person or electronically, focus group attendance, interviews, and the like. Human subjects can receive compensatory funds for consenting to be research subjects and completing these tasks.  

• NSF Salary Compensation: As a general policy, it limits the salary compensation requested in the proposal budget for senior personnel to no more than two months of their regular salary in any one year. This limit includes salary compensation received from all NSF-funded grants combined. It may be possible to combine NSF funding with other sponsored funding to reach a total that would cover a course buyout, but this can only be done once all awards are secured and not while funding is in a “proposal pending” status.