Research Grant Budget Calculator

Allocate grant funding across personnel, equipment, travel, supplies, and indirect costs.

Inputs

Total Grant Amount

Personnel (%)

Equipment (%)

Travel (%)

Supplies (%)

Indirect Cost Rate (%)

Grant Duration (Years)

Tab to move between fields

Results

Total Direct Costs

$166,666.67

≈ 11 used cars

Indirect Costs (F&A)$83,333.33

Personnel Budget$91,666.67

Equipment Budget$16,666.67

Travel Budget$8,333.33

Supplies Budget$25,000.00

Other Costs$25,000.00

Annual Total Budget$83,333.33

Annual Direct Costs$55,555.56

How to Use This Calculator

Enter the Total Grant Amount from your award letter.
Set your institution's Indirect Cost Rate (%) — commonly 40–60% for research universities; find this in your grant office.
Allocate Personnel (%), Equipment (%), Travel (%), and Supplies (%) as percentages of direct costs.
Enter Grant Duration (Years) to see both total and Annual Budget figures.
Review Total Direct Costs and Indirect Costs (F&A) to confirm the split matches your award budget.
Use the individual budget line outputs (Personnel Budget, Equipment Budget, etc.) when filling out grant budget forms.

How the result changes with Total Grant Amount

Total Grant Amount	Total Direct Costs
$1,000,900.00	$667,266.67
$3,500,650.00	$2,333,766.67
$6,500,350.00	$4,333,566.67
$9,000,100.00	$6,000,066.67

What each input means

Total Grant Amount: Total awarded grant funding.
Personnel (%): Percentage of direct costs for salaries, benefits, and stipends.
Equipment (%): Percentage for research equipment purchases.
Travel (%): Conference travel and fieldwork expenses.
Supplies (%): Lab supplies, materials, and consumables.
Indirect Cost Rate (%): University overhead (F&A) rate applied to direct costs.
Grant Duration (Years): Number of years the grant covers.

How this is calculated

Worked example, using the default values

Identify Input Parameters
4 parameters
Total Grant Amount = 250000, Personnel (%) = 55, Equipment (%) = 10, Travel (%) = 5 = 7 input(s) provided
Calculate Total Direct Costs
Total Direct Costs
166666.67 = $166,666.67
Calculate Indirect Costs
Indirect Costs
83333.33 = $83,333.33
Calculate Personnel Budget
Personnel Budget
91666.67 = $91,666.67

Engine last updated July 11, 2026.

The questions that sit next to this one — chosen by subject, including calculators filed under a different category.

Higher Education

University Budget Allocation Calculator

Allocate university budget across instruction, research, services, and administration with per-student analysis.

Higher Education

Faculty Workload Calculator

Calculate teaching, research, and service load balance for university faculty.

Nonprofit & Fundraising

Grant Budget Calculator

Build a grant budget with direct costs, fringe benefits, indirect (F&A) costs, and match requirements.

Grant Writing

Grant Budget Template Calculator

Build a compliant grant budget with personnel, fringe, travel, equipment, supplies, contractual, other direct costs, and indirect (F&A) costs per federal Uniform Guidance.

Lab Operations

Laboratory Budget Calculator

Plan annual laboratory budgets from personnel, reagents, equipment, maintenance, and indirect costs with industry benchmark comparisons.