This budget guideline applies to both Project and Presentation Funding Applications. Please note that the justification you provide for each item and stipend is an important factor in the funding decision process rather than the funding request amount, i.e. a proposal that requests $500 in funding is not more likely to be funded than a proposal that requests $5000. Therefore, applicants are encouraged to request funding for all allowable, well-justified, and necessary expenses (e.g., materials and supplies, travel, stipend).
UROP does not accept or review applications requesting over the maximum amount. UROP may also decide to partially fund your application based on faculty reviews of the application. Additionally, UROP does not fund items already purchased or stipend for work that has already been completed. Please see sections below for more information.
If you would like to learn more about how UROP disburses funding to students, please refer to the Disbursement tab under the Funding Recipient section.
Item Eligibility
- Items necessary for the project/presentation, including materials and supplies, reference materials, software, etc.
- Service/outsourcing necessary for the project/presentation, including copying/printing (e.g., printing charges for poster presentations), facilities rental, lab testing, etc. For all budget line items being outsourced, justify how standard this is within the given field and verify that the service is not available on-campus, fellow students, lab, department, or UROP staff.
- Travel expenses necessary for the project/presentation, including transportation (air, ground, etc.), lodging, and Meals & Incidental Expenses (M&IE). Please note that travel must take place in the semester of funding disbursement, including summer
- For M&IE, use the GSA guideline to determine the allowable rate for the continental US, or use the DoD guideline to find the rate for Alaska, Hawai‘i, US Territories, and foreign countries (use local meals and incidental amounts). You may request up to the maximum M&IE listed for a given local, or any amount below that. For lodging costs, see the GSA and DoD guidelines for allowable government rates for reference. As with M&IE, lodging costs requested should not exceed the GSA and DoD guidelines, but may be lower.
- Stipend funding at a standard rate of $15 per hour for up to 20 hours per week during the regular semester (Fall and Spring) and 40 hours per week during semester breaks (including spring, summer, and winter breaks)
- Students requesting an hourly stipend for time spent working towards any academic credit (i.e., coursework, undergraduate thesis, capstone, practicum, internship, etc.) should note that only the hours that exceed the expected 3 hours/week of coursework per credit are allowed. For example, if a student requests 225 stipend hours total (15 stipend hours for 15 weeks) and the project/presentation overlaps with a 3-credit course (e.g., 3 credits of 499 Directed Research): – 15 stipend hours x 15 weeks = 225 stipend hours – The expected coursework is 135 hours for the 3-credit Directed Research course (3 credit x 3 expected hours per credit x 15 weeks = 135 credit hours) – In this example, the student may: (a) request 90 stipend hours (225 total hours – 135 credit hours = 90 stipends hours); or (b) work a total of 360 hours on the project/presentation and request the full 225 stipend hours.
- Students applying in the Fall Project Cycle requesting for funding in the following spring semester may propose to begin their stipend hours the day after the end of the fall final examinations period until the end of the final examinations period in the completion semester.
- Students applying in the Spring Project Cycle requesting for funding in the following summer or fall (depending on your proposed funding semester) may propose to begin their stipend hours the day after the end of the spring final examinations period until the end of the final examinations period in the completion semester.
- UROP stipend hours do not overlap with students’ on-campus job work hours (i.e. via SECE). At the same time, students are encouraged to manage their commitment in order to ensure realistic and manageable workload.
The following items are ineligible for UROP funding:
- Items with insufficient justification
- Items already purchased or stipend for work that has already been completed. Applicants may only request funding for items starting from the beginning of the semester of funding disbursement (i.e., no funding charges will be allowed that were incurred prior to funding disbursement).
- Items with ambiguous name/descriptions (“lab supplies,” “miscellaneous supplies,” etc.)
- Tuition for course, training, workshop, etc.
Budget, Stipend, and Summary Tables
The following is a guideline on how to create Budget, Stipend, and Summary Tables. Also, be sure to review the sample budgets as a visual reference. Please note that the sample budgets are not intended to replace the written guideline and you are responsible for following all guidelines as outlined below.
You are more than welcome to use Microsoft Excel or other similar software to prepare the tables. However, please note that the application system may not display your tables correctly if they are too wide. In order to ensure that your tables are properly displayed without any missing information (UROP will not consider funding any items/stipend on the tables that is not appropriately displayed by the application system), please be sure that your tables fit in a Word document displayed in a portrait orientation with 1-inch margin all around.
| Item # | Item Name | Unit Cost | Quantity | Total Cost | Justification |
- The table should fit within one page unless it includes more than 10 line items (if you have multiple budget pages, include the same column headers at the beginning of each page).
- GROUP: Group applicants must submit
- One (1) group budget
- One (1) individual budget per one (1) group member (the total amount in this table is the amount each individual member is requesting from UROP). When preparing individual budgets, other rules groups must follow are:
- Allocate all items listed in the group budget to one of the group member’s individual budgets (i.e., do not list anything in the group budget that is not also included in an individual budget)
- Do not split individual line items. For example, if the group is requesting a tool that costs $600, allocate the item to one member’s individual budget rather than splitting the cost.
- One (1) Summary Table per one (1) group member
- One (1) Stipend Table per one (1) group member, if applicable
- For your reference, review the Group Budget Sample
Add rows below the six column headers to detail the specifics of the item requested for the project/presentation. One row should constitute one type of item.
- Items should be grouped in the following groups and order:
- Materials/Supplies
- Service/Outsourcing
- Travel
- Stipend
- Item #: Start from 1 and add a consecutive number for each additional item.
- Item Name: Indicate the name of the item. Be specific.
- Example 1: “Flight” (vague) vs. “Flight: HNL-OGG, 8/6/2019 – 8/14/2019” (specific)
- Example 2: “Tools” (vague) vs. “Milwaukee Electric Tools 2997-23 Fuel Combo Kit” (specific)
- Unit Cost: Indicate the cost of the item per unit. The Unit Cost should be inclusive of all surcharges such as tax and shipping.
- For stipend, the Unit Cost should always be $15/hour.
- If multiple items are from one vendor and the vendor charges a single tax and/or shipping fee, then tax/shipping may be listed as a line item. Be sure to indicate the Item # where the tax/shipping fee is incurring from under Justification.
- Quantity: Indicate the number/amount of item.
- For stipend, indicate the number of hours. For groups, this should be the total number of hours for all group members.
- Total Cost: Calculate and list the Unit Cost multiplied by Quantity. If Quantity is 1, Total Cost should be the same as the Unit Cost.
- Justification: Indicate specific and detailed justification to convince the reviewers why the particular item/expense is necessary for the project. Items with insufficient justification will not be funded.
- Consider including relevant tasks, dates, and places, as applicable.
- Show due diligence. i.e., did you compare prices? Why did you choose that particular item or flight?
- For all items over $500 for materials/supplies and $1,500 for equipment, applicants must include an explanation in the Justification column why the item is necessary in relation to the methodology and a confirmation that the item/equipment is not readily available on campus for use.
- For stipend, briefly summarize tasks and the expected number of hours for each task.
- For all budget line items being outsourced, justify how standard this is within the given field and verify that the service is not available on campus by consulting your faculty mentor, fellow students, lab, department, or UROP staff.
Once all items have been included, add the following applicable rows. Each subtotal row should immediately follow the group of items that fall under the pertinent category.
- Mat/Sup Subtotal: Sum of all costs on materials and supplies. Indicate the subtotal in the Total Cost column.
- Serv/Out Subtotal: Sum of all costs on services and outsourcing fees. Indicate the subtotal in the Total Cost column.
- Travel Subtotal: Sum of all costs on travel. This includes transportation, lodging, conference/competition/event registration fees, abstract submission fees, M&IE, etc. Indicate the subtotal in the Total Cost column.
- Non-Stipend Subtotal: Sum of all costs under Mat/Sup, Serv/Out, and Travel subtotals. Indicate the subtotal in the Total Cost column.
- Stipend Subtotal: Sum of all costs under Stipend. Indicate the subtotal in the Total Cost column.
- Total: Sum of all costs. (stipend subtotal + non-stipend subtotal)
Once all subtotal and total rows have been included, add additional rows to disclose all outside sources of funding, including planned, pending, and received funding, for the project/presentation other than UROP funding (if applicable):
- Indicate items and/or stipend covered by outside sources under the Item Name column. Indicate the source of funding and the total amount in the Justification column.
- Applicants planning to apply or waiting to hear back from non-UROP funding sources must describe how funds will be used if accepted for funding, and when funds would be received.
- Note: IDeA Networks of Biomedical Research Excellence (INBRE) funding recipients most likely cannot receive funding from both INBRE and UROP for the same project/presentation. If funded from both INBRE and UROP, the recipient most likely would choose one source of funding. Please contact INBRE for further information.
If you are requesting a stipend, prepare a Stipend Table by creating a table starting with the following four columns headers.
GROUP: Each applicant requesting a stipend must submit their own Stipend Table preceded by the relevant applicant name.
| Date Range | Hours | Cost | Description of Tasks |
- All applicants requesting a stipend must submit a Stipend Table separate from the budget that indicates the general breakdown of dates, hours, cost, and tasks planned for the duration of the project/presentation.
- Date Range: Indicate the dates when a set of tasks will be accomplished. The range can be days, weeks, or months.
- Hours: Indicate the total number of hours within the Date Range.
- Cost: Indicate the Cost (Hours x $15/hour)
- Description of Tasks: Indicate the set of tasks that will be worked on and accomplished within the Date Range indicated.
Once all items have been included, add the following rows:
- Stipend Total
- Referencing the column headers, indicate the full date range, total hours, total cost, and a summary description of tasks.
Return to the beginning of the document before the Budget Table (Group Budget Table if you are in a group). Create a new table titled Summary Table and with the following seven column headers. Add rows below the seven columns headers and indicate the name of the applicant and the corresponding subtotals and the total.
| Last Name_ First Name | Mat / Supp Subtotal | Outsourcing Subtotal | Travel Subtotal | Non-stipend Subtotal | Stipend Subtotal | Total |
GROUP: Each applicant in a group must be included. If the allocation is $0, indicate so in the Summary Table.