2013 Winter News Bulletin
Looking ahead to 2013, we reflect on our recent efforts and share upcoming plans.
Our data for the 2012 calendar year shows a slight decrease in the overall sponsored research submission volume compared to 2011, and is the same as in 2010. From January to December 2012, 345 new and competitive renewal applications were submitted through SR-PD, 201 to public and 144 to private sponsors (27% Collaborative/Multi-PI, 34% Single PI, 35% Career/Fellowships and 4% to Other-NonResearch). During this same period, the university received 108 awards, 56 from public and 52 from private sponsors (22% Collaborative/Multi-PI, 30% Single PI, 46% Career/Fellowships, and 2% Other-NonResearch).
InfoEd, the University's online proposal/award management environment, continues to grow and acquire new functionalities. Implementation of the InfoEd Enterprise Staging Area (ESA) and Single Sign-On (SSO) announced in our previous Summer Bulletin is on track to be completed in January 2013. These significant enhancements will enable all InfoEd users a seamless access to the system and streamline the management of InfoEd user accounts and profiles with the RU-IT environment.
As the NIH transitions to the electronic submission of multi-project applications (ASSIST: Application Submission System and Interface for Submission Tracking), SR-PD is closely evaluating corresponding solutions being developed by InfoEd to facilitate the successful adoption of this new process at RU.
The NSF has recently released its new Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide (PAPPG), which is effective for applications submitted on/after January 14, 2013. In response to applicants' concerns, the NSF is continuing to evaluate their proposal review process and to offer additional clarifications to their review criteria.
Following our evaluations of collaborative management tools to support researchers engaged in large-scale, multi-PI, multi-institutional projects, SR-PD signed up for Basecamp, a web-based software for project management. We are currently experimenting with Basecamp capabilities internally. Interested investigators are welcome to contact SR-PD to try it.
The SR-PD front page had a Fall 'facelift', a few sections have been reorganized to increase ease of use, boilerplates and checklists for applications, JIT requests and reports have been updated, and other improvements are continuously made. Our December Spotlight features our In-House Funding Database and other Grant Seeking Resources currently available on the SR-PD website. The annual review of our Routing Form was completed in early December and the latest version has been in effect as of January 1, 2013. An increase of 11.7% in the number of visits to the SR-PD site between 2011 and 2012 (26,445 and 29,539 respectively) indicates its growing usefulness.
As part of our outreach efforts, SR-PD hosted its most recent Research Administrator Forum 14 on October 24, sharing updates on the federally mandated Research Performance Progress Report (RPPR) and significant changes in the NIH Grants Policy Statement. SR-PD continues to contribute to the Human Resources' new employee orientations where we outline SR-PD services, resources, policies and procedures pertaining to securing and managing sponsored research funding. 'One on one' grant overview training is provided as needed to new lab research administrators. Other SR-PD outreach efforts include InfoEd training (individual and group) and grant tutorials tailored to the needs of our faculty members, clinical scholars, postdoctoral associates/fellows, and graduate fellows. Altogether in the past six months, SR-PD members offered guidance and training in 24 sessions to 64 members of the RU community on a broad range of sponsored research topics. Tips and Policy Updates are emailed to the RU community every other week, or more often if needed.
The Tri-Institutional Collaboration Network (TCN) workshop series opened the 2012-13 academic year in September with Career Development & Training Award Workshops, followed by The USDA Perspective on IACUCs in November, and Publishing in Open Access in December. The October event, Successful Strategies for Securing Large-scale Collaborative Biomedical Research Funding, which was cancelled due to Hurricane Sandy, is rescheduled for February 13, 2013. Other events will include The Non-Federal Funding Landscape on January 24. Close to 120 RU members attended TCN events in calendar year 2012.
We are happy to announce the newest SR-PD member, Suzanna Lee, who assumed our Electronic Research Administration Specialist position earlier this month. Her responsibilities include support of InfoEd users, maintenance and development, and other electronic research administration (ERA) activities.
News at a Glance (July – December 2012)
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Dec. |
14, 2012 |
In-house Funding Database Spotlight |
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Dec. |
11, 2012 |
Publishing in Open Access (TCN) |
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|
Dec. |
05, 2012 |
Clinical Scholars - RCD session |
|
|
Nov. |
28, 2012 |
InfoEd Tutorial - NIH Fellowships |
|
|
Nov. |
14, 2012 |
Grant Writing Tutorial (MD targeted) | |
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Nov. |
13, 2012 |
The USDA Perspective on IACUCs (TCN) |
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|
Oct. |
30, 2012 |
Successful Strategies for Securing Large-scale Collaborative Biomedical Research Funding (TCN) Cancelled due to Hurricane Sandy |
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Oct. |
24, 2012 |
Resadmin Forum 14 |
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Oct. |
12, 2012 |
Grant Writing Tutorial (REPPS) |
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Oct. |
10, 2012 |
Predoctoral Research Fellowship Tutorial |
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Sep. |
19, 2012 |
InfoEd Tutorial - NIH Career Awards |
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Sep. |
05, 2012 |
Career Development & Training Award Workshops (TCN) |
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Jul. |
18, 2012 |
InfoEd Tutorial - NIH Fellowships |
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Jul. |
10, 2012 |
Electronic Research Administration Resources Spotlight |
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Jul. |
1-14, 2012 |
ARRA Quarterly Reporting | |
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Jul. |
1, 2012 |
COS/Pivot implementation |
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With RU-IT’s ongoing support, more InfoEd improvements are coming, including an InfoEd version upgrade, which will permit the use of new ERA advancements (e.g. improved budget interface, upload capabilities) to further harmonize the use of the system. SR-PD is actively monitoring and preparing for new electronic tools created by sponsors, such as the new NIH Financial Conflict of Interest (FCOI) eRA Commons capabilities, and the new Research Performance Progress Report (RPPR) for NIH eSNAP and NSF awards, which will be required by NSF beginning on March 18, 2013. The RPPR was created by the federal government to streamline reporting requirements across all federal sponsors. A system wide rollout is anticipated in Spring 2013; we are already using the RPPR when available, e.g. SNAP and Fellowship awards. Our evaluation of mobile solutions for our weekly funding alerts is moving forward.
Finally, the SR-PD office is undergoing partial renovations that should be completed in early February. We encourage you to visit us, take advantage of our services and resources, and share with us your needs and advice.
We wish you a healthy and productive year!
Previous
2012 Summer News Bulletin
2012 Winter News Bulletin
2011 Summer News Bulletin
2011 Winter News Bulletin
2010 Summer News Bulletin
2010 Winter News Bulletin
2009 Summer News Bulletin
2009 Winter News Bulletin
2008 Summer News Bulletin
2008 Winter News Bulletin
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