| For more information on applying for a grant, see the Grant Application, Electronic SOP or Grant Application, Paper SOP.
Person Months Measure Effort Devoted to Projects
For your budget, measure effort in person months per year, not percent effort. This change brings the PHS 398 and PHS 2590 in sync with the SF 424.
Person months can be classified three ways: academic, summer, or calendar months. If effort does not change throughout the year, use calendar months. If effort varies between academic and summer months, leave the calendar months blank and fill in the academic and summer months.
For each person, you can list up to 12.00 person months total. You may use up to two decimal places.
Even if you're not requesting a salary, you must show effort in person months for senior key personnel. The dollar field can be zero.
Calculating Person Months from Percent Effort
To translate percent effort into person months, use this formula:
% Effort x # Months Pay at FTE x % Appointment = Person Months
Example
Professor Smith has an academic appointment (nine months). She will expend 10 percent of her effort on an NIH project for the academic year, and 66 percent effort in the summer. Person months are calculated as follows:
| Category |
Calculation |
Result |
| Academic Year |
10% effort x 9 months. |
(0.10 x 9) = 0.90 months. |
| Summer |
66% effort x 3 months. |
(0.66 x 3) = 1.98 months. |
| Total for Year |
Total person months. |
2.88 months. |
If Professor Smith had a twelve-month (calendar) appointment and expended 10 percent effort for the year, her person months on the project would be calculated by multiplying 0.10 by 12 months to arrive at 1.20 months.
Exercise
John Doe has an 80 percent time appointment for the 12-month year, with a current base salary of $27,600 annually. He will devote 25 percent of his effort to a project.
- Step 1. To calculate John Doe's academic year salary, divide his annual salary of $27,600 by 12 months.
His monthly salary = ________
- Step 2. He will expend 25 percent effort on the project. Multiply his monthly salary of $2,300 by 12, then multiply by 0.25.
($2,300 x 12) x 0.25 = ________
Person months for John Doe are calculated as follows:
- Step 1. Multiply percent effort by 12 months.
For his 80 percent appointment,
(0.25 x 12 x 80%) = _________
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