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Congratulations on Your Successful Proposal!

We are here to help break down the submission process, discuss common pitfalls and describe how to build a better budget. The STGMS User Guide, which provides step-by-step instructions on submitting a budget in STGMS, is another great resource.

If you have any questions along the way, reach out to STScI Grants Administration.
(410) 338-4200     |     gms_mail@stsci.edu

Proposal Timeline

Let’s walk through the process of submitting a budget in the Space Telescope Grants Management System (STGMS), which begins after successful proposal selections by the Telescope Allocation Committee (TAC). If you are looking for help submitting a proposal to TAC, you may reach out to the HST Help Desk or JWST Help Desk for more information. Prior to submitting a budget for an HST or JWST grant, proposers should carefully review the budget proposal process.

 

Details

Budget Preparation

First things first. Are you eligible?

Note that NASA has revised the definition of U.S. Investigator and the Eligibility requirements have changed. The revision applies to new HST cost proposals submitted on or after May 25, 2022 and new JWST proposals submitted on or after September 14, 2022.

Reference the STScI General Grant Provisions (GGP), for more details, including the definition of a U.S. Investigator.

Have you reached out to your Sponsored Projects Office?

At most institutions, the Sponsored Projects Office (SPO) is responsible for submitting the budget in STGMS. Your institution will have internal due dates that precede STScI’s budget deadline.  Be aware of all internal due dates so that your institution is able to submit the budget on time.

Your SPO will assist with calculating the budget and preparing the budget narrative, while following institutional policies, federal regulations, and STScI requirements.

If you are a Postdoc or Grad Student listed as the scientific investigator on a program, your institution may require that a faculty sponsor be listed as the Admin PI on the budget. Reach out to your SPO if you have any questions.

Are you a Program Admin PI or a Co-Investigator?

Note: Program Administrative PIs are no longer required to enter narrative instrument information in the budget proposal. STGMS now retrieves this information automatically.

The budget requirements are different for a Program Admin PI versus a Co-I. Detailed instructions are provided in the Budget Narrative Template. The Program Admin PI is responsible for providing programmatic details and approving all Co-I budgets submitted for the program.

Program Admin PIs also have access to PI Program Management in STGMS. This page provides an overview of the program and allows the Program Admin PI to set a budget threshold for each funded Co-I and approve Co-I budgets.

What type of budget are you preparing?

Expand the sections below to learn more information about different program types.

ProgramTypes

 

Ready to get started? Keep in mind...

Complete Budget

Ensure that all the components of the budget proposal are complete and in compliance with institutional policies, federal regulations, and STScI requirements. The responsibility of a clear, complete, and accurate budget and narrative rests with each investigator and their institution. The program budget is comprised of the individual budgets submitted by each Investigator requesting funding for their work on the program.

Period of Performance vs. Budget Period

If you have questions about when the period of performance will begin, reference Grant Awards in the Proposal Timeline section.

Period of Performance (PoP) is the time during which the grant recipient may incur costs to perform the work authorized under the STScI grant award.  Regardless of the months of support requested in the budget period/proposal, grants are awarded with a 3-year PoP.

To allow adequate time to complete the project and to alleviate the administrative burden of requesting a no-cost extension, the 3-year PoP essentially incorporates a 12-month automatic no-cost extension.  The additional year’s PoP is solely for the purpose of completing grant activities, and not to expend the unused balance.  If work on the project is completed in less than 3-years, final reports are submitted and the closeout process begins.

Budget Period is the period of time necessary to complete the proposed research effort (in a budget proposal).  This will be consistent with the project timeline in the budget narrative.  For example:  Postdoc salary for 12 months each in years 1 and 2 total 24 months, so the budget period is 2 years.

Depending on the type and complexity of the project, STScI normally expects the budget period to reduce and analyze data, and publish results, to be 1 – 2 years for most programs. It is expected that budget requests will not include more than 24 months of labor effort per person. Major projects may require a longer period of effort in excess of 2 years and up to 3 years. If a program requests funding for more than a 2-year effort, the science goals and justification must strongly justify support in excess of the standard 2-year budget period.

Level of Effort

Budgets for U.S. investigators should be proportionate to their level of effort. For example, if the foreign investigators are responsible for conducting the majority of the work on the project, and the U.S. team is responsible for a small portion of the work (e.g. contributing in an advisory role, or reducing a small amount of data), We would not expect to see a proportionately large budget for the U.S. team.

For more information about each budget element, expand the boxes below.

Cartwheel Galaxy

STGMS Budget Form

The STGMS User Guide provides step-by-step instructions for submitting a budget.

Budgets are generated and submitted using the Space Telescope Grants Management System (STGMS). Costs are entered in the STGMS budget form by cost-category. All costs listed in the budget must be described in the budget narrative.

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Costs for approved scope of work

Work outside of the approved scope of work, or effort that is overscoped in comparison with the approved science proposal, will not be supported. Costs for effort and activities related to ground-based observations and analysis will be considered only if ground based was discussed in the approved science proposal.

Certifications

Upon submission of the budget, acceptance of the certifications in the pop-up dialog box signify that the Authorizing Official (AO) or Authorizing Official Representative of that institution certifies compliance with the STScI certifications and assurances listed in Appendix A of the GGP.

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STGMS Itemized budget form
Space Telescope Grants Management System (STGMS) itemized budget form.
Andromeda Galaxy and the Milky Way Collide

Budget Narrative

The required format is the Budget Narrative Template. The narrative may be generated in any software, but must be uploaded into STGMS in PDF format. The instructions in each section should be deleted prior to submitting the narrative.

Program Admin PIs - Complete Sections I - IV

Co-Investigators - Complete Sections III-IV

Eta Carinae UV

Current & Pending Support

A Current & Pending Support document is required for all budgets. If a Current & Pending Support document is created for an investigator, it will automatically attach to all budgets for that specific cycle.

If the grant has a different Science PI and Admin PI, the information is required for the Science PI only. The following information is required for all planned, pending, and current support. You may use your preferred format for the document. 

  • Funding Source
  • Amount Awarded
  • Number of Months of investigator Salary
  • Project Period
  • Project Title
Planetary Nebula NGC6302

Additional Program Admin PI Responsibilities

For Program Admin PIs ONLY

In addition to providing the STGMS Budget Form, Budget Narrative, and Current & Pending Support, the Program Admin PI must also:

  • Ensure the Program Admin PI Budget Narrative contains Section I and Section II.
  • Approve Co-I budgets.
  • Confirm that the sum of all 'PI Approved' Co-I budgets does not exceed the maximum program allocated amount.
  • Set a budget threshold for Co-Is (highly encouraged).

The PI Program Management page in STGMS can be used to view program funding, approve Co-I budgets and set budget thresholds. Only budgets with a status of 'Needs PI Approval' or 'Needs Revision' can be modified. To change the status of a budget on the PI Program Management page, click directly in the field under the Budget Status column. A drop-down box will appear with status options. When the Program Admin PI approves a budget, the PI Approved Amount is set to the total of that budget. STGMS will automatically email the Co-I confirming submission of the budget to STScI.

Note: Program Administrative PIs are no longer required to enter narrative instrument information in the budget proposal. STGMS now retrieves this information automatically.

Writing a Budget Narrative

A strong, clear, and concise budget narrative is key. This information is required to review budget proposals.

The budget narrative includes I. Summary of contribution of all investigators, II. Technical Program Summary, III. Program Planning and Execution, and IV. Budget Description, including all non-labor costs (e.g. travel, computer equipment and services, publication charges, etc.).

The required format is the Budget Narrative Template. Requests that do not use the required budget narrative template will be returned. The template includes detailed instructions for completing each section (I-IV) of the budget narrative.

What sort of costs can I request in my budget?

Common budget cost categories include:

  • Salaries and Fringe
  • Travel
  • Supplies and Materials
  • Computer Services
  • Publication Costs
  • Equipment
  • Other, including tuition and relocation
  • Indirect Costs

For further details about allowable, allocable and reasonable costs, see the GGP.

Allowable, Within Scope and Reasonable

All budgets will be reviewed to ensure that costs are allowable, within the scope of the approved science proposal, and reasonable. STScI has the final authority to determine if costs for budgets, awards, and expenditures are allowable, reasonable, and allocable.  STScI reserves the right to recover grant expenditures that were not in compliance with applicable policies and regulations. Unallowable costs will be removed from the budget request.

Examples of unallowable costs (this list is not all-inclusive):

  • Work that is out-of-scope

  • Funding for non-U.S. investigators (including travel)

  • Preparatory work for future proposals

  • Work for which results have already been published

  • Salary for named postdoctoral fellows (e.g. Hubble, Miller, etc.)

  • Visas and visa renewal costs

  • Cell phones and data plans that support personal devices

  • Internet Service Provider (ISP) costs outside of the home institution

  • Fees - management fees, cost of money, profit

Scope

  • The work outlined in the budget must align with the goals and work described in the science proposal

    • Work beyond that outlined in the original proposal is out-of-scope, e.g.

      • Ground-based observing, lab work, citizen science or reduction of ancillary data not described in the original proposal

      • Budget allocations exceeding 10% of the total budget for ground=based observing, lab work, citizen science or analysis of ancillary data

      • Effort for Phase 2 observing preparations (e.g. MSA mask preparation for JWST MOS observations)

      • Preparatory work for future proposals

Reasonableness

  • Costs must be within the general range expected for the work.

  • Are the travel or publication costs significantly above the recommended levels?

    • Travel is generally anticipated less than $15,000 or 10% of the total budget (whichever is higher).

    • Publications are generally anticipated as less than $10,000 or 5% of the total budget

    • Exceptions are permitted if suitably justified

  • Is the work distribution reasonable?

    • In particular, budget narratives should explain the contributions made by non-US investigators

Are you submitting a Continuation budget?

For detailed information about submitting a Continuation budget, reference Continuation under "What type of budget are preparing?" above.

What if I require a preparatory grant?

Preparatory (prep) funding should be requested at the time of budget submission. The field for this request is in the STGMS budget form under the Indirect Costs accordion section and should be justified in the budget narrative.

Prep funding is available for GO programs only. Up to 25% of the total approved budgeted amount may be requested to begin essential work prior to observations. Preparatory funding is awarded subject to the submission of revised budgets and/or overdue reports.

Are pre-award costs allowable?

In accordance with the GGP, pre-award costs are an allowable expense. Please note that such costs are incurred at the grantee’s own risk and will not impose an obligation on the part of STScI or NASA if an award is not subsequently made, or if an award is made for a lesser amount than the grantee anticipated. The costs must be for project activities directly related to a specific STScI program and necessary for efficient and timely performance of the scope of work. Such costs are allowable only to the extent that they would have been allowable if incurred after the date of the grant award. STScI waives the approval requirement for pre-award costs of 90 days or less.

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A few questions to ask yourself before finalizing the Budget Narrative

  • Are the responsibilities, contributions, and level of effort for each team member clearly stated, justified, proportional, and in conjunction with their role in the project and the approved science proposal?
  • If any effort overlaps, is there a clear description of why it is necessary?
  • Is the travel requested really required for the project?
  • Are the computers (laptops, desktops) and computing costs requested required for the project and well justified in the budget narrative?
  • Is there a clear, detailed justification for any major science software packages expected to be used?
  • Are the publication costs commensurate with the level of the project?  Is there justification for an unusually high number of pages or publications?
  • Are there any unusual or particularly high costs in the budget? If so, are they well justified?
  • Are the contributions of all unfunded and foreign investigators described in the budget narrative? Is it very clear that unfunded and foreign team members are contributing their proportionate share of the effort and costs (e.g., labor, travel, and publications)?
  • Have you used the current Budget Narrative Template and deleted all instructional text?
  • Have you complied with the page limits?
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Submitting a Budget in STGMS

The budget requirements are different for a Program Admin PI and Co-Investigators. Please reference each checklist below for details.

   

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Program Admin PI Checklist

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✓ Complete budget form in STGMS 

✓ Upload Current and Pending Support

✓ Attach completed Budget Narrative Template (all sections)

✓ Approve Co-I budgets

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Co-Investigator Checklist

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✓ Complete budget form in STGMS 

✓ Upload Current and Pending Support

✓ Attach completed Budget Narrative Template (sections III-IV)

 

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 is the review process?

All budget proposals are reviewed by the Financial Review Committee (FRC), made up of scientists from the user community. Budget submissions for all programs will be reviewed to check that the scope of the proposed work is aligned with the science goals described in the original proposal. The proposed work may not include activities that were not described explicitly in the original proposal.

Review criteria 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.

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.

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.

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.

 

Resources

You may find the following resources helpful as you go through the budget submission process. Still have questions? Reach out to STScI Grants Administration at (410) 338-4200 or gms_mail@stsci.edu.

For general questions and information, please contact us at
gms_mail@stsci.edu or 410-338-4200.
 

Institutions may set up electronic payments by emailing accountspayable@stsci.edu.