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Modular budget justifications

At time of submission, NIH will accept a modular budget; however, at JIT, NIH ICs may request a detailed budget and justification as part of the Just-in-Time process.

For a NIH modular budget, the narrative justification is provided only for personnel and, when applicable, consortium or contractual costs. There is no routine escalation for future years. In determining the total for each budget year, applicants should first consider the direct cost of the entire project period. Additional narrative budget justification is required only if there is a variation in the amount requested for each budget period. For example, purchase of major equipment in the first year may justify a higher overall budget in the first year, but not in succeeding years.

Refer to the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for special instructions specific to activity code.

Modular budget justifications should include:

  • Personnel Justification: The Personnel Justification should include the name, role, and number of person-months devoted to this project for every person on the project. Do not include salary and fringe benefit rate in the justification, but keep in mind the legislatively mandated salary cap when calculating your budget. [When preparing a modular budget, you are instructed to use the current cap when determining the appropriate number of modules.]
  • Consortium Justification: If you have a consortium/subcontract, include the total costs (direct costs plus F&A costs), rounded to the nearest $1,000, for each consortium/subcontract. Additionally, any personnel should include their roles and person months; if the consortium is foreign, that should be stated as well.
  • Additional Narrative Justification: Additional justification should include explanations for any variations in the number of modules requested annually. Also, this section should describe any direct costs that were excluded from the total direct costs (such as equipment, tuition remission) and any work being conducted off-site, especially if it involves a foreign study site or an off-site F&A rate.

Applications with a Data Management and Sharing (DMS) Plan: If a DMS is required in the proposal application, the Additional Narrative Justification is required.

NOTE: Additional explanation within the Additional Narrative Justification is not needed in applications to Funding Opportunities with direct cost limits that do not spread evenly across budget periods (e.g., R21 opportunities that allow $275,000 in direct costs over two years).