Let's get started...
First, verify that your MyST profile is up-to-date! This includes double-checking that your institution and email address are current, which is an important step to make sure you receive our notifications.
If you do not have an STGMS account, contact STScI Grants Administration at gms_mail@stsci.edu for a list of STGMS User Account Managers at your institution who can assist you in creating an account. Levels of access to STGMS system are maintained by the grantee institution. If you require a revision of your access level, contact an account manager at your institution.
Once you are logged in to STGMS, from the Main Menu navigate to Budget > Budget search. There are a few ways to find your budget form but the easiest way is to enter the 5-digit program number (e.g. - 12345) in the Program Number field. Select your grant number as it auto-populates, click Search, then choose your grant from the list below. From the Budget List page you will be able to create new budgets or revise existing budgets. The STGMS User Guide includes step-by-step instructions for using the budget editor feature.
Don't forget to upload your Current and Pending
Every budget submitted to STScI must have Current and Pending Support (C&P) for the Grant Science PI. If the PI already has a C&P document for the cycle in STGMS, the document will automatically attach. If the PI must create a new C&P document, select the 'Create Current & Pending Document' button and attach the PDF. The following information is required:
- Funding Source
- Amount Awarded
- Number of Months of PI Salary
- Project Period
- Project Title
Time to attach your Budget Narrative
As a reminder, the Program Admin PI should complete sections I through IV of the Budget Narrative Template. Co-Is are only required to complete sections III and IV. Be sure to delete the instructions in each section and convert to a PDF format prior to uploading the Budget Narrative to the budget form in STGMS. Incomplete information will likely result in a reduction of funding allocated to your program.
Ready...Set...Submit!
Give your budget one final review. When you're ready, scroll to the bottom of the budget editor form to either 'Save & Notify' or 'Submit' the budget. Typically, Investigators are only able to 'Save & Notify', which will forward your budget to folks at your institution who have the privilege to submit budget(s) on your behalf.
If you have the privilege to submit a budget, you will receive a pop-up dialog box to certify acceptance and compliance with certifications, assurances, and representations. The submitter must check all three boxes before the submit button is available to click, at which time a password is required.
What's the review process?
All budget proposals are reviewed by the Financial Review Committee (FRC), made up of scientists from the user community. The FRC applies specific criteria to assess whether the funding requested is justified. These include:
- Is the scope of activities described in the budget narrative consistent with the science goals from the TAC proposal?
- Proposers must ensure that all data reduction and analysis tasks identified for funding map directly to the science goals described in the original proposal. Additional work that broadens the scope of the program will not be funded.
- Is the requested level of funding support consistent with the scope of work undertaken?
- The time and effort devoted to each task should be commensurate with the experience of the funded investigator; for example, a postdoctoral fellow would be expected to complete work on a faster timescale than a graduate student. In general, funding is limited to 24 months for any individual; funding extending into a third year will receive additional scrutiny.
- Are the institutional budgets well coordinated?
- Each institution submits a separate budget as part of the grant proposal. It is vital that the PI ensures that those are coordinated to provide a clear description of the division of work and effort.
- Is there a clear description of the work to be carried out by each investigator on the proposal, including non-US investigators?
- All investigators are expected to contribute. The budget narrative should include a clear description of who is responsible for what and why the work has been distributed in this manner.
- Does the proposal include a detailed timeline as part of the work plan?
- The budget narrative should provide milestones for key deliverables.
- Is there any unnecessary duplication of work?
- The budget narrative needs to differentiate clearly the work done by each investigator. Plans to have two or more groups undertake the same analysis need an appropriately strong justification.
- Is the requested funding for travel and publications and support for ancillary work reasonable?
- In general, travel and publication support should together be less than 10% of the total budget or ~$15,000 (whichever is higher). Proposers requesting higher levels of support should provide a clear justification.
- Support for ancillary work (e.g. ground-based observations, laboratory work) is limited to less than 10% of the total budget and the work must be described in the TAC proposal.
It may be necessary to apply additional cuts to programs beyond those recommended by the FRC if the total requested by all programs exceeds the funding made available by NASA.
For more details, please consult the GGP.
Notifications
A notification is issued once the budget has been submitted. If the budget is for a Program Admin PI, the budget is automatically PI approved. If the budget is for a Co-I, the Program Admin PI will be notified to approve your budget. The table below describes different statuses of a budget.
Status Type |
Description |
Approved |
The budget was submitted and has been reviewed and approved by STScI Grants Administration. |
Denied |
The budget is denied. |
Needs PI Approval |
The budget was submitted and is pending approval from the Program Admin PI. |
Needs Revision |
Revisions are required before the budget can be approved. |
Pending FRC |
The budget was submitted and is pending review by the Financial Review Committee (FRC). |
PI Approved |
The Program Admin PI has provided PI approval and the budget is pending review by STScI Grants Administration. (A budget submitted by a Program Admin PI is automatically PI approved.) |
Saved |
The budget is in process. STScI Grants Administration does not have access to saved budgets. |
Superceded |
STGMS automatically supercedes a budget once a revision is submitted. This status is also used for transfer situations. |