The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (DHHS), the largest biomedical research agency in the world.  The NIH invests over 80% of its budget in biomedical research and related training, awarding grants, cooperative agreements, and contracts to more than 300,000 researchers at over 2,500 universities, including CSU.

In order to receive a competitive grant from the NIH, a researcher must submit a solid proposal which includes a cost estimate in the form of a budget.  Cost estimates, or budgets, required by the NIH vary in scope and by program.  In a recent blog “Introduction to NIH Centers, Institutes and Mechanisms,” a number of research and training programs were highlighted.  These programs varied in terms of years of support, amount of total costs available, and how the budget is to be submitted to the NIH for review.  Below is a side-by-side comparison of the NIH Detailed & Modular budgets.  But first, a few words about the modular budget…

Modular Budgets

The NIH uses a modular budget for most research grants to request direct costs up to $250,000 in any given year.  Costs must be estimated to the nearest $25K increment or module.  Modular budgets are not accepted for some NIH grant types (e.g., SBIR and STTR), yet required for others (e.g., R21).  Always check the Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) to determine if the modular budget format is required.  You can also consult this handy decision tree made available on the NIH website.

While typically the same number of modules should be requested yearly, there are times when it makes sense to request a higher or lower number of modules in any given year.  For example, in the following scenario a piece of equipment costing $20,000 will be requested in Year 1.  Adequate justification must be given when the number of modules requested yearly varies.

Additional Justification: In Year 1, an additional module is requested to support the purchase of an electronic spectrometer ($20,000).  The spectrometer is required in order to perform the experiments under Specific Aims 1 & 2 in the proposed research.

Words of Caution

Extra care should be taken in determining if a modular budget is required when consortiums are involved- see NIH guidance.  Additionally when including consortiums, the consortium must provide a detailed budget to CSU and CSU must provide an estimate of total consortium costs for each budget period rounded to the nearest $1,000.

Even when NIH requires a modular budget, CSU requires a detailed budget.  Seeing the details allows us to determine how many modules to request in any given year and lets us know if there are items that need to be justified or subtracted from the direct cost base (e.g., capital equipment, participant support costs, tuition, rent, subaward costs over $25K, etc.) in order to calculate the correct F&A rate.

Modular vs. Detailed Budget

The modular budget concept is for smaller requests so that reviewers can focus on the scientific merit of the proposal during review.  The modular grant application does not require a categorical breakdown of the direct costs requested in the application.  Only a Personnel Justification is required, along with a consortium and additional justification if applicable.  Below is a side-by-side comparison of required features for both the modular and detailed budgets.  Because programs vary, always check the FOA to determine if the modular or detailed budget format is required.

Find, Apply, Succeed

The NIH has a number of tutorials, Frequently Asked Questions, and step-by-step guides to aid investigators and their administrators in successfully providing cost estimates and submitting proposals.

Tutorials on Applying to the NIH and Budget Assistance 

How to Apply:  https://grants.nih.gov/grants/how-to-apply-application-guide/prepare-to-apply.htm

Develop your Budget:  https://grants.nih.gov/grants/how-to-apply-application-guide/format-and-write/develop-your-budget.htm

NIAID’s “Create a Budget”: https://www.niaid.nih.gov/grants-contracts/create-budget

Learn more about applying to the NIH and award administration by subscribing to NIH listservs, reading through their FAQs or by attending an upcoming NIH Regional Seminar.

NIH Listservs:  https://grants.nih.gov/news/subscribe-and-follow/listservs_and_rss.htm

NIH FAQs:  https://grants.nih.gov/grants/frequent_questions.htm

NIH Seminars:  https://grants.nih.gov/news/contact-in-person/seminars.htm