Q: What are the methods of fund management for Natural Science Foundation projects? According to different budget management methods, the management of natural science foundation project funds can be divided into a lump sum system and a budget system. Q: Which projects implement a lump sum management system? The Youth Science Fund projects (Class C) [formerly Youth Science Fund projects], Youth Science Fund projects (Class B) [formerly Excellent Youth Science Fund projects], Youth Science Fund projects (Class A) [formerly National Outstanding Youth Science Fund projects], Youth Science Fund projects (Class A continuation funding) [formerly National Outstanding Youth Science Fund continuation funding projects], and pilot established basic research projects for young students implement a lump sum funding system and do not require the preparation of project budgets. Q: Which projects implement budget management methods? General projects, key projects, major projects, major research plan projects, regional science fund projects, innovative research group projects, excellent research group projects, excellent research group continuation funding projects, international (regional) cooperative research projects, international (regional) cooperative exchange projects, foreign scholar research fund projects, joint fund projects, special projects, mathematical Tianyuan Fund projects, national major scientific research instrument development projects, and global scientific research fund projects. Q: What are the budget items for direct expenses? Direct expenses include three categories: equipment costs, business costs, and labor costs. Q: Which direct expenses in budget projects require necessary explanations? When filling out equipment reports, the necessity of equipment expenses and the reasonableness of calculations should be explained. Equipment with a unit price greater than 500000 yuan (including 500000 yuan) shall be supplemented with explanations of the main functional indicators, main technical parameters, and other content of the equipment; Equipment with a unit price less than 500000 yuan only needs to be classified according to equipment purchase cost, trial production and renovation cost, and rental usage cost. When reporting business expenses, basic calculations and explanations should be made according to expenditure categories such as material costs, testing and processing fees, fuel and power costs, etc. When filling in the labor fee, factors such as the necessity of the research task undertaken by the labor fee expenditure object, the duration of work invested in the project, and the rationality of the cost standard should be comprehensively considered, and basic calculations and explanations should be made according to personnel categories. Q: What are the expenditure ranges of equipment fees? The expenses incurred during the project implementation process for purchasing or trial producing specialized instruments and equipment, upgrading and renovating existing instruments and equipment, and leasing instruments and equipment from external units. Computational instruments, equipment, and software tools can be included in the equipment cost account. Equipment procurement should be strictly controlled, and open sharing, independent research and development, leasing of specialized instruments and equipment, as well as upgrading and renovating existing instruments and equipment, should be encouraged to avoid duplicate purchases. Q: What are the scope of business expenses? The procurement, transportation, loading and unloading, and organization costs of various low value consumables such as materials and auxiliary materials consumed during the project implementation process, as well as the expenses incurred for testing, laboratory testing, processing, fuel and power, publishing/literature/information dissemination/intellectual property affairs, conferences/travel/international cooperation and exchange, and other related expenses. Question: Who are the recipients of labor fees? What are the labor cost standards and scope for hiring personnel for the project? The recipients of labor fees are graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, visiting scholars who participate in project research, or researchers and research assistants hired by the project, as well as temporarily hired consulting experts (excluding personnel involved in the research and management of this project and its affiliated topics). The labor cost expenditure standard for project hired personnel is determined based on the average salary level of local scientific research and technical service industry employees, according to the work tasks they undertake in project research. The social insurance subsidies, housing provident fund, etc. paid by the unit are included in the labor cost account. The fees paid to temporarily hired consulting experts shall be implemented in accordance with relevant national regulations. Q: Can the expert consultation fee be used to pay for the personnel involved in this project? Payment shall not be made to personnel involved in the research and management of this project and its affiliated topics. Question: What is the scope of indirect expenses? Related expenses incurred by the supporting unit during the organization and implementation of the project that cannot be included in direct expenses. Mainly including: the occupancy of houses provided by the supporting units for project research, daily consumption of water, electricity, gas, heating, etc., subsidies for management expenses, and performance expenditures to incentivize scientific researchers. Question: What are the principles of budget preparation for budgeting projects? The project leader (or applicant) of the budget system should carefully prepare the project budget based on the actual needs of the scientific research task, in accordance with the principles of policy consistency, target relevance, and economic rationality. Q: Do budget projects require the preparation of indirect cost budgets? No need, the budget system project leader (or applicant) only prepares a direct cost budget, and indirect costs are uniformly approved by the National Natural Science Foundation of China. Q: What forms do contracting and budgeting projects need to fill out during budget preparation? The lump sum project does not require the preparation of a project budget. The project leader (or applicant) of the budget system should fill out the "National Natural Science Foundation Budget System Project Budget Table" and "Budget Statement". Q: What are the main factors considered during budget review? Budget review should follow standardized procedures and requirements, adhere to the principles of independence, objectivity, impartiality, and science, and evaluate the policy consistency, target relevance, and economic rationality of project budget applications. The level of detail in budget preparation shall not be used as a factor in evaluating the budget, and the budget shall not be simply reduced proportionally. Q: What are the documents and regulations related to the budget preparation of National Natural Science Foundation projects? 《2025 Guidelines for Annual National Natural Science Foundation Projects "," Management Measures for Funds of National Natural Science Foundation Funded Projects "(Caijiao [2021] No. 177)," Explanation on the Preparation of Budget Tables for National Natural Science Foundation Budgeting Projects ", etc. Q: How to prepare a budget for a project jointly undertaken by multiple units? The lump sum project does not require the preparation of a project budget. For budget based projects, if multiple units jointly undertake a project, the applicant and the main participants of the cooperative research should prepare separate budgets (referred to as sub budgets) based on their respective research tasks. After being reviewed and signed by their respective units, the applicant shall compile and report the budget (referred to as the total budget). The budget allocation does not need to be submitted and will be kept on file by the supporting unit for future reference. The cooperative research that is agreed upon by both parties to not allocate funds may not require the signing of a cooperative research agreement (or contract), and may not require separate budget preparation, which shall be clearly stated in the Budget Statement. Q: How should indirect costs of budget based projects be used? The indirect costs of budget based projects are arranged and utilized by the supporting units in a coordinated manner. Relying units should establish and improve internal management methods for indirect costs, use indirect costs openly, transparently, compliantly, and reasonably, and handle the relationship between sharing indirect costs and incentivizing scientific researchers. Performance expenditure arrangements should be linked to the actual contributions of researchers in project work. Relying on the unit, all indirect costs can be used for performance expenditures and tilted towards teams and individuals with outstanding innovation performance. Relying units shall not repeatedly extract or allocate related expenses from project funds under any name other than indirect expenses. Q: What are the requirements for determining the proportion of indirect costs for budget projects outside of pure theoretical research such as mathematics? The indirect costs of budget based projects are generally determined based on a certain proportion that does not exceed the direct project costs minus equipment purchase costs, and total amount control is implemented. The specific proportion is as follows:< o:p>（ 1） 30% for amounts of 5 million yuan or less; （ 2） The portion exceeding 5 million to 10 million yuan is 25%; （ 3） The portion exceeding 10 million yuan is 20%. Q: What are the requirements for determining the proportion of indirect costs for budget projects based solely on theoretical research such as mathematics? For the field of mathematics (projects with codes A01-A06 accepted by the Index Science Department), indirect costs are generally determined based on a certain proportion not exceeding the direct project costs minus equipment purchase costs, and total amount control is implemented. The specific proportion is as follows:< o:p>（ 1） 60% for amounts of 5 million yuan or less; （ 2） The portion exceeding 5 million to 10 million yuan is 50%; （ 3） The portion exceeding 10 million yuan is 40%. Q: What is the adjustment procedure for the funding of the lump sum project? The funds for the lump sum project are determined by the project leader independently and are disbursed within the scope of direct and indirect expenses, without the need for adjustment procedures. Q: Which budget adjustment projects require approval from the National Natural Science Foundation of China? In the implementation process of budget based projects, if the project budget needs to be adjusted in the following situations, it shall be submitted to the Natural Science Foundation of China for approval in accordance with relevant procedures. （ 1） Due to significant adjustments in research content or research plans, it is necessary to adjust the total budget; （ 2） Funds need to be adjusted between the same project topics. Q: What are the regulations for budget adjustment in budget based projects? During the implementation of budget based projects, if it is necessary to adjust the budget while keeping the project budget unchanged, adjustments shall be made according to the following provisions:< o:p>（ 1） If the equipment cost budget needs to be adjusted, the project leader shall submit an application based on the actual needs of scientific research activities and submit it to the supporting unit for approval. The supporting unit should take into account the existing equipment configuration, actual needs of scientific research projects, etc., and promptly handle the adjustment procedures. （ 2） Labor fees, business
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