The budget is a key element for any grant application
- Read the instructions carefully before starting to plan your proposal.
- Ensure that what you propose can be completed with the available funds.
- Justify all requests for money – salaries, equipment, materials, travel.
The ORI assists with the preparation, review and approval of pre-award research proposal budgets. The budget must be in compliance with the terms and conditions of the funding agency & the specific funding call, and also be in adherence with Institutional policies (eg: RCSI employer pension contribution).
The budget guidelines are included with the funding call guidelines. These will include details of eligible & ineligible costs, amount of funding available, applicable overhead and budget duration. Please use the RCSI researcher salary scales where applicable.
When the budget has been finalised, it must be uploaded to the Research Information Management System (RIMS) along with proposal details (title, start date, end date, etc. which is then approved by the Office of Research & Innovation – ORI (and Finance if over €500,000).
A Budget Calculator is available to aid in the calculation of your costs and for more popular funding calls, the ORI has developed bespoke templates. Any queries, please contact grantsapplicationsupport@rcsi.ie. Please also see Templates letters and Budget FAQs below.
BUDGET FAQs
1. What salary scales should I use?
Unless the salary is already stipulated by the funding agency (eg: Irish Research Council, Postdoctoral Award), use the RCSI researcher salary scales (/research/grant-application-and-registration/researchrecruitmentresearcher-salary-scales) which are based on the IUA salary scales.
2. Do I need to include employer PRSI?
Yes, employer PRSI must always be included on top of the gross salary (/research/grant-application-and-registration/researchrecruitmentresearcher-salary-scales). Current employer PRSI is 11.05%. From October 2024, it will be 11.15%.
3. Do I need to include employer pension contribution?
Yes, if employer pension contribution is an eligible cost, it must be included in the application.
4. What is the RCSI rate of employer pension contribution?
As RCSI is a private institution, the employer pension contribution is 7% (as opposed to 20% for public institutions) but you should also include 1.5% life cover ie: include a total employer pension contribution figure of 8.5%. (/research/grant-application-and-registration/researchrecruitmentresearcher-salary-scales)
NB: If the salary is to be transferred to a public institution, then you should include a public body employer pension contribution of 20%.
5. How do I choose an appropriate salary level?
Choose the appropriate salary level based on the required number of years of experience. For a recently graduated postdoctoral researcher, select a salary scale of Level 2, Point 1 and increase by one point for each additional year of experience.
6. Can I apply increments to a salary?
Check the eligibility criteria in the funding call document as not all funding schemes allow for salary increments, but if applicable, increase the salary by one point on the salary scale for each additional year. Once the top of scale has been reached, no further increments should be applied.
7. How do I choose an appropriate student stipend?
The funding agency will indicate the stipend rate to be applied. If no stipend has been stipulated, include a rate of €25,000 per annum. SFI currently funds postgraduate student stipends at a flat rate of €22,000 per annum for up to four years. The HRB currently support postgraduate stipends (MSc and PhD) at the rate of 25,000 in line with government rates. The HRB does not fund MD degrees or taught Masters.
8. How much are RCSI student fees?
Use the student fee levels stipulated by the funding agency. SFI makes a standard €5,500 contribution towards the annual cost of postgraduate fees, for four years. The HRB support a maximum contribution to postgraduate fees of €5,500 annually for individuals registered for a higher degree. This is up to two years for MSc and for four years for PhD degrees. If no student fee rate is stipulated, please refer to the College rates at the following link: PhD fees
9. How much should you cost for consumables for a PhD studentship?
The cost of consumables varies greatly depending on the type of research. Lab-based research will ultimately be more expensive than desk-based research. Costs can vary from €8,000-€12,000 per annum for desk based and anywhere from €12,000-€20,000 per annum depending on the nature of the research.
10. What are overheads / indirect costs?
Overheads / Indirect costs are those costs incurred by the college in the course of a research project which cannot be attributed specifically or exclusively to the project eg: space, light, heat, maintenance, scientific waste disposal, library services, IT services, Financial and HR support. The Contribution of Overheads to a research proposal is Funding Agency / Funding Scheme specific. Overhead Rates are calculated as a percentage of direct costs minus equipment (and in some cases minus capital expenditure and student fees)
30% for laboratory-based research
25% for desk-based research
NB: Always check if the indirect cost should be specified as part of budget costings in the grant application.
15. Do I need to include overheads / indirect costs in my application?
If overheads are an eligible cost, they MUST be included in the grant application. This is a mandatory College requirement.
16. What is the overhead/indirect cost rate for Private Donations?
Small private donations up to €20k are subject to a mandatory 5% indirect cost contribution. We recommend that you bear this requirement in mind when engaging with private donors and planning your research expenditure. Private donations > €20k are subject to the following rates:
30% for RCSI lab-based research
25% for RCSI desk-based research
5% for non-RCSI based research
/research/grant-application-and-registration/overhead-rates-indirect-costs.
If the donation is from Industry, please speak with our Head of Industry Partnership for advice.
17. What is the overhead/indirect cost rate for Consultancy?
Overheads should be added to all of these applications, ideally at 30%, but, at minimum, 20%. Margins of 20% should also be included. We recommend that you bear this requirement in mind when engaging and planning your consultancy budget.
18. RCSI FAIR Data Management Cost
RCSI policy requires all budgets to include the following FAIR Data Management costs:
- €900 year 1 (3 days)
- €750 year 2 and subsequent years (2.5 days)
- €1500 final year (5 days)
This is to cover data management and stewardship costs including data acquisition, time on metadata standards, support on making the data FAIR, data storage and security overhead, and procedures for data release and reuse.
NB: FAIR Data Management costs are ineligible for some funders (such as EI).
19. What should I include in the budget justification?
Firstly, check on the word/page limit set by the funder as this will dictate the amount of detail that should be included.
- Ensure a detailed breakdown of all requested costs is provided, in accordance with the funders budget policy guidelines
– Separate line item for each staff member, salaries aligned to the RCSI salary scales indicating entry level/point and that the figures include the appropriate employer PRSI (11.05%) and employer pension contribution (8.5%) in line with institutional policy.
– Indicate any part-time or co-funded positions with justification.
– Break out all equipment items requested.
– Materials budget must be itemised, including access charges, other service charges, patient recruitment costs, essential software packages, etc.
– Indicate where funding is to be allocated to co-applicants/collaborators. - Research in Ireland is expensive so always indicate that salary costs include social contributions and that any equipment includes VAT – we know that it’s expensive but a reviewer may not.
- Ensure that all costs referenced in the budget table are also referenced and fully justified in the budget justification section.
- Ensure there is alignment with your budget and your proposed work packages.
- Unjustified costs will be removed.
| Some Common Budget Errors | |
|---|---|
| 1. | Salary not assigned to a given scale |
| 2. | No employer pension contribution included |
| 3. | Incorrect employer pension contribution applied |
| 4. | No life cover included |
| 5. | Incorrect stipend applied |
| 6. | Incorrect fees applied |
| 7. | Incorrect overheads applied |
| 8. | Incorrect total award calculations |
| 9. | Ineligible costs applied such as: (these are dependant on the funding scheme in question) – Inclusion of salary increments |