What per-diem ranges does the calculator suggest?

The defaults reflect published NIH animal facility benchmarking surveys: academic vivariums typically charge $0.85–$1.50 per cage per day, biotech and industry vivariums $1.50–$3.50, and GLP / contract research facilities $3.00–$6.00. These are starting points — every institution has its own rate card and you can override individual rows.

How is monthly burn rate computed?

Monthly burn is the daily cost extrapolated to a 30.4375-day average month — i.e. (total_cost / duration_days) $\times$ 30.4375. It assumes constant cage occupancy through the study window. For studies with cohort onboarding/offboarding, run the calculator separately for each phase.

How do weekend and holiday multipliers work?

The calculator splits each week into 5 weekdays (×1) and 2 weekend days ($\times$ weekend multiplier). Holiday days come out of the weekday share at the holiday multiplier. Use 1.0 for both when your facility bills a flat daily rate regardless of day-of-week.

Why does cost per data point matter for budgets?

Cost per animal counts every animal — including breeders, attrition, and pilot losses. Cost per data point is total cost divided by usable cohort size, which is the figure grant reviewers and FOAs actually want. A $40,000 study with 200 mice and a usable n=120 has a cost-per-data-point of $333, which is a defensible per-arm budget number.

When should I escalate a cost-control review?

The calculator flags any total above $50,000 for review — this is a heuristic threshold above which most institutions require dual sign-off or a formal cost-share negotiation. Smaller studies in expensive GLP environments hit it quickly; large academic studies typically do not. Use the warning as a prompt to validate the rate card with your facility manager.

Per-Diem Cost Calculator

Project mouse colony per-diem costs across multiple cohorts and cage types. Institution-aware rate defaults, monthly burn rate, and cost-per-data-point — exportable to CSV.

Mouse Colony ManagementPer-Diem BudgetingClient-Side

Tool info

Tool information

About, related tools, and citation

About This Tool

Method: Total cost = Σ(cages $\times$ rate $\times$ days $\times$ daily_multiplier). Daily multiplier blends weekday (5/7), weekend (2/7 $\times$ weekend_multiplier), and holiday share (holiday_days / total $\times$ holiday_multiplier, removed from the weekday share). Monthly burn = (total / days) $\times$ 30.4375. Cost-per-animal and cost-per-data-point are direct ratios.
Last Validated: 2026-04-06
Privacy: 100% client-side

Related Tools

How to Cite

ConductScience Per-Diem Cost Calculator (v0.85.0). ConductScience, Inc. 2026. Available at: https://conductscience.com/tools/per-diem-cost-calculator

NIH Office of Research Infrastructure Programs. Per Diem Rates Survey for Animal Research Facilities. NIH ORIP; 2023.

National Research Council. Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals: Eighth Edition. National Academies Press; 2011.

Why This Tool?

This calculator multiplies cages $\times$ rate $\times$ days across an arbitrary number of lines, applies institution-default rate ranges, projects monthly burn, and exposes both cost-per-animal and cost-per-data-point — the latter being the figure grant reviewers actually want. CSV export drops directly into a budget spreadsheet.

Tool details, related tools, and citation

About This Tool

Method: Total cost = Σ(cages $\times$ rate $\times$ days $\times$ daily_multiplier). Daily multiplier blends weekday (5/7), weekend (2/7 $\times$ weekend_multiplier), and holiday share (holiday_days / total $\times$ holiday_multiplier, removed from the weekday share). Monthly burn = (total / days) $\times$ 30.4375. Cost-per-animal and cost-per-data-point are direct ratios.
Last Validated: 2026-04-06
Privacy: 100% client-side

Related Tools

How to Cite

ConductScience Per-Diem Cost Calculator (v0.85.0). ConductScience, Inc. 2026. Available at: https://conductscience.com/tools/per-diem-cost-calculator

NIH Office of Research Infrastructure Programs. Per Diem Rates Survey for Animal Research Facilities. NIH ORIP; 2023.

National Research Council. Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals: Eighth Edition. National Academies Press; 2011.

Why This Tool?

Try it out

Load example per-diem cost calculator data to see the full workflow

Institution Type

Default range for academic: $0.85 – $1.50 per cage per day. Override individual rates below.

Cage Lines

Label	Cage type	Cages	Rate $/day

Study Parameters

Duration (days)

Total animals

Cohort size (data points)

Optional Multipliers

Weekend multiplier

Holiday multiplier

Holiday days

Cost Summary

Total cost

$4,248

40 cages

Monthly burn

$1,437

USD / month

Cost / animal

$21

lifetime cost

Cost / data point

$35

per cohort animal

Per-Line Breakdown

Label	Type	Cages	Rate	Effective	Row cost
Active study	Standard	40	$1.18	$1.18	$4,248

Building a study budget for an internal review or funding application
Comparing the cost of two study designs (e.g. n=50 for 90 days vs n=100 for 60 days)
Projecting burn rate for an active multi-cohort study
Sanity-checking a quote from a contract research vivarium
Estimating cost-per-data-point for a publication or grant Specific Aim

Don't use for

As an institutional billing record — finalize with the facility's actual rate card
For non-cage costs (procedures, drugs, surgical supplies) — combine with a separate procedure budget
When cohort size and study length are still uncertain — explore the design first with a sample-size calculator

Why Per-Diem Costs Drive Animal Study Budgets

Per-diem cage charges are usually the single biggest line in a rodent study budget — typically 40–60% of total animal costs for a study of more than 60 days. Reagent costs, surgical fees, and pathology are usually fixed; per-diem scales linearly with cohort size and study length.

Two consequences for budgeting:

Long studies are exponentially more expensive than the cohort math suggests once you factor in 365-day per-diem accumulation
Cohort size has compound impact — doubling n doubles both the cage line and the per-diem days, not just the headcount

A cost calculator that exposes both the total and the monthly burn lets you front-load conversations about study design before IRB submission.

Institutional Rate Card Benchmarks

Per-diem rates vary by institution type and species:

Academic vivariums: $0.85–$ 1.50/cage/day for mice, often subsidized by indirect cost recovery
Biotech / industry: $1.50–$ 3.50/cage/day, fully loaded with overhead
GLP / contract research: $3.00–$ 6.00/cage/day, includes full GLP documentation, dedicated staff, and audit-ready records
Specialty housing: BSL-2/3 containment, gnotobiotic, or barrier rooms can add 50–200% to the base rate

Always confirm the actual rate card with your animal facility before submitting a budget — published surveys lag the market by 1–2 years.

Per-Diem Cost Calculator

Institution Type

Cage Lines

Study Parameters

Optional Multipliers

Cost Summary

Per-Line Breakdown

Why Per-Diem Costs Drive Animal Study Budgets

Institutional Rate Card Benchmarks

Frequently Asked Questions

Next Steps

ConductColony — auto-calculate per-diem from your live cage count

Mouse Housing Systems

Vivarium Equipment

Need Help?