New Video Now Available: Preparing an NIH Budget from a Principal Investigator’s Perspective

Watch the video to gain practical, PI-level insights into how research budgets are built, justified, and managed across NIH funding mechanisms.

Strong science alone is not enough to secure or sustain funding. In this newly released video, Kathleen Sluka, PhD, shares a candid, experience-driven perspective on NIH budgeting from the standpoint of a Principal Investigator. Drawing on extensive experience with both basic and clinical research grants, Sluka walks through how to approach budgeting as a core component of research planning and execution.

The talk emphasizes the importance of understanding specific funding mechanisms and RFAs, reading instructions closely, and aligning budget requests with programmatic intent. Sluka provides detailed guidance on writing robust budget justifications, including how to clearly articulate personnel roles, experimental costs, core facility usage, and per-sample calculations, while accounting for real-world variability such as staff training, experimental repeats, and participant attrition.

The presentation also addresses the inevitability of post-award budget cuts and offers strategies for proactive rebudgeting, expense monitoring, and scope adjustment. Throughout, Sluka underscores the value of early collaboration with research administrators, program officers, and senior colleagues to ensure budgets are realistic, defensible, and supportive of successful project execution.

This talk is particularly valuable for investigators seeking to strengthen proposal feasibility, protect project scope, and navigate the practical realities of budget management before and after award.