Calculating personnel resources

Personnel funds are usually the largest budget item in research projects.

Since personnel funds usually represent the largest budget item in research projects, it is very important to calculate these as accurately as possible when submitting the application. Otherwise, large gaps in funding can quickly develop, which can ultimately make it impossible to finance the completion of the project. 

Even in the case of two-stage application procedures, calculations should be as precise as possible as early as the outline stage, since the total volume cannot be significantly increased in the full application.

When applying for personnel, special attention must be paid to the fact that permanent staff are generally not eligible for funding when funding is provided on an expenditure basis (e.g. federal funding). This means that the planned personnel must be additional personnel.

The following factors are key in planning staffing resources:

What personnel are eligible for funding?

How many staff members with what qualifications will be needed during the course of the project?

  • Number of participants
  • Salary group (technical staff / academic staff / student assistants)
  • Time expenditure per person (100%, 50% etc. of a full-time position)

Do you need experienced personnel for the project work, or are career entrants good enough?

  • Salary classification within the qualification group

Are the people who will work on the project already known or will they be newly hired (TBA personnel)?

  • For known personnel, pay grade increases can be factored in during the project if necessary. For this purpose, please send us the signed consent form for personnel cost calculation.

Please also note that the personnel calculations are subject to very different regulations depending on the funding organization, and that, also depending on the organization, various personnel expense rates and upper limits should be used for the calculations. Even within the same funding agency, recognition practices may differ with respect to personnel costs.

Therefore, we highly recommend contacting our application support team. We will be very happy to help you with the optimal calculation.