Costing Investigator Time

Costing PI time on grant applications 

Principal Investigators and Co-Investigators are responsible for estimating the time of their involvement in the research project. Investigator FTE will be included in the X5 costing, and the research grants team will advise whether it is an eligible cost in line with funder terms and conditions.

It is expected that all Investigators, regardless of contract type, will claim the maximum contribution towards their salary that is appropriate for the project and admissible within the policy of the funder. FTE should not be underestimated to make cost savings. It is recognised that some funders might not have clear policies on charging of Investigator time; such cases will be discussed with the department grants team as part of the X5 costing process.

Investigator time should account for all the direct time required to manage the project, undertake the work, and supervise the project staff. The Research Councils’ own estimates indicate that the average PI time would be typically in excess of 8 hours per week or 20% of their time over the course of a research project.

The minimum expected PI time contribution to a small-scale 2-3 year project is 0.10 FTE. Larger project and programme grants require a minimum of 0.2 FTE. The minimum expected Co-I time contribution to a small-scale 2-3 year project is 0.05 FTE. Larger project and programme grants might require a larger FTE commitment for Co-Is. Some funding schemes will pay higher FTE contributions for the lead investigator and these expectations are typically included in the funder’s guidance.

The department grants team has experience with many different funders and can provide advice to PIs where appropriate. For more guidance on estimating time, see the Research Services Guidance Note: Research project time estimation .