A sponsored project budget is generally comprised of the following elements: direct costs, facilities and administrative (F&A) costs, cost sharing (if applicable) and a budget justification.
Direct costs are requested to cover costs that can be identified with a specific sponsored project, or that can be directly assigned to such a project with relative ease and a high degree of accuracy.
Facilities and Administrative (F&A) costs are requested to cover real costs to the University. These costs are incurred for common or joint objectives and, therefore, cannot be identified readily and specifically with a particular sponsored project, an instructional activity, or any other institutional activity. F&A costs are synonymous with Indirect Costs.
Cost sharing is a portion of the costs of a project that is not borne by the sponsoring agency.
Budget justifications are necessary to explain the various items included in the detailed budget.
For tools to assist in the budget development process, visit Budgeting Resources.