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Free Tool · Higher Education

Free Research Budget Planner

Select your research type to load a structured template, add budget line items across categories, and instantly get a full cost analysis with over-budget flags and recommendations.

Runs entirely in your browser · No login · No data uploaded

1
Project Setup
2
Budget Items
3
Analysis
4
Export
Step 1 — Project Setup

Enter your project details and select a research type to load a structured budget template.

Research Type — loads a structured budget template
Laboratory / Clinical
Field Research
Desk / Library Research
Social / Survey Research
Computational / Data Science
Start Blank

How to Plan Your Research Budget in 3 Steps

Follow these steps to get results in under a minute

01
Enter Project Details & Research Type
Add your project title, institution, funding body, and total budget. Select a research type — laboratory, field, desk, social, or computational — to auto-load a structured budget template.
02
Add & Manage Budget Line Items
Edit the template items or add your own. Each item has a description, category, quantity, and unit cost. The running total updates in real time and flags when you approach or exceed your budget.
03
Review Analysis & Export
Get a full category breakdown, budget utilisation bar, and automatic conflict flags — over-budget, concentration risk, missing contingency. Export as a formatted PDF, CSV, or plain text.

How UniCloud360 Research Budget Planner Compares

vs spreadsheets, manual processes, and paid platforms

Feature UniCloud360 UniCloud360 Research Budget Planner Manual SpreadsheetGeneric Budget AppGrant Management System
Research-type budget templates 5 research type templates Generic only No templates ⚠️ Vendor-specific forms
Auto conflict / risk flags 4 conflict checks Manual checks only ⚠️ Basic alerts ⚠️ Rule-dependent
Category breakdown with bars Visual % breakdown Manual charting ⚠️ Basic pie chart ⚠️ Fixed categories
Manage custom categories Add/remove anytime Fixed columns ⚠️ Limited customisation ⚠️ Locked to grant template
Printable PDF budget report Formatted A4 report Print from sheet ⚠️ Basic export ⚠️ Vendor format only
No login or software needed 100% browser-based No tool needed App download needed Login required

What Researchers & Grant Managers Are Saying

Trusted by lecturers and students across Sri Lankan universities

4.9
★★★★★
4 reviews
NO
Prof. Nneka Obi
Principal Investigator
★★★★★

"I used to spend two days building a budget spreadsheet from scratch for every grant application. The laboratory template loaded everything I needed — personnel, consumables, travel, publication fees — in seconds. I just filled in the numbers."

RK
Ravi Krishnaswamy
PhD Candidate
★★★★★

"The over-budget flag saved me from submitting a grant application where I had accidentally allocated more than the funding cap. The category concentration warning also showed me I had 72% in personnel — which prompted me to justify that allocation in my narrative."

LB
Dr. Lena Brauer
Research Grants Officer
★★★★☆

"I recommend this to early-career researchers applying for their first external grant. It introduces the standard budget categories and forces them to think about indirect costs and contingency — which most students forget entirely in their first attempt."

EA
Emmanuel Asare
Masters Researcher
★★★★★

"The social research template was exactly right for my survey-based project. The CSV export went straight into my institution's grant portal. The missing contingency flag reminded me to add a 5% reserve — my supervisor specifically asked about that in the review."

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