How a Grant Budget Could Be Cut

There are different stages at which a grant's budget may be cut, say National Institutes of Health officials in this podcast from the Office of Extramural Research. Those stages include during peer review, by the center to align the grant with the priorities and mission of that center, or at the time that the budget is reviewed for reasonableness, whether certain items are allowed to be included in the budget, and if funds can be allocated for the budget items. They recommend that a principal investigator calling the grant specialist when the award is made to discuss any decrease in its budget. "At the point where the grantee draws down the first dollars on those grants, they are agreeing to the terms and conditions of the award, which includes saying, 'Yes, the budget is right,'" says Rebecca Claycamp, the chief grants management officer at the National Institute of Mental Health.