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Operational Excellence

IN RESEARCH ADMINISTRATION

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WHY WE’RE DOING THIS

The quality of administrative services provided by the Research Office is critical to creating an efficient and effective research environment at the University. Our goals during this initiative are to:

  • Improve service to faculty who participate in sponsored research
  • Increase process efficiency via enhanced policies, procedures, tools, and systems
  • Bolster institutional compliance with federal and sponsor requirements
  • Implement performance metrics to continuously review administrative effectiveness

 

PROGRESS UPDATES

We will be engaging the broader research community and sharing our progress throughout this transformation effort. Ongoing communications and status updates can be viewed in the announcement section below.

Announcements


1. NASA Policy Update: Implementation of New Grant and Cooperative Agreement Manual (Friday, October 18, 2024)

On October 1, 2024, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) released an updated version of the NASA Grant and Cooperative Agreement Manual (GCAM) which now provides a single resource for guidance covering the full life cycle – from proposal to closeout – of NASA-sponsored programs. The 2024 GCAM, available here, implements the Office of Management and Budget’s 2024 revisions to Title 2 of the Code of Federal Regulations (2 CFR), and fully incorporates the guidance previously found in the Proposer’s Guide, which will no longer be utilized.  

The 2024 GCAM is effective October 1, 2024, and applies to all new awards and amendments issued on or after 10/1 regardless of when the proposal was submitted. The NASA Grant & Cooperative Agreement Terms and Conditions, which set forth general and specific award terms, have been separated from the GCAM to create a standalone document posted on the Grants Policy and Compliance page and available here.

To implement requirements of the National Security Presidential Memorandum-33 (NSPM-33) and the CHIPS and Science Act, all covered individuals, as defined in the 2024 GCAM, are now required to submit the common disclosure forms with their applications. The templates for the biographical sketch and current and pending support forms are posted here along with NASA’s Pre-Award and Post-Award Disclosure Requirements table.  Both common forms require a signed certification that the individual is not a party to a malign foreign talent recruitment program.

As a reminder, senior/key personnel are required to disclose pending applications to and current participation in programs sponsored by foreign governments, instrumentalities, or entities, including foreign government-sponsored talent recruitment programs. Covered individuals are prohibited from participating in a malign foreign talent recruitment program.

All Announcements

2. NSF – Expense Reimbursement Requests (Thursday, February 6, 2014)

Please see Research Office memo as a reminder of recent changes made by the National Science Foundation (NSF) regarding a new system for expense reimbursement requests.

3. NSF – updated PAPPG (Friday, January 3, 2014)

A new version of the NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG) , (NSF 14-1) has been issued. The PAPPG is comprised of documents relating to the Foundation’s proposal and award process and consists of the: (a) Grant Proposal Guide (GPG) for guidance on the preparation and submission of proposals to NSF and and (b) Award & Administration Guide (AAG) to guide, manage, and monitor the award and administration of grants and cooperative agreements made by the Foundation.

This new version of the PAPPG will be effective for proposals submitted, or due, on or after February 24, 2014.

To see a summary of some of the revisions for proposal submissions click here.
To see a summary of some of the revisions/clarifications for post award administration click here.

4. NSF – Certification Requirement (Tuesday, December 31, 2013)

The University of Delaware is committed to ensuring the highest ethical and professional standards of conduct in research. Important to this commitment is the provision of ongoing training opportunities appropriate to the endeavors of the University Community. Numerous opportunities to explore the responsible conduct of research are embedded within existing curricula, most especially in undergraduate and graduate research methods courses, campus‐wide workshops, undergraduate summer scholars’ ethics training, and seminars. More information on these offerings may be obtained by contacting the Director of Research Compliance. The University of Delaware is required to certify a plan to provide training and oversight in the Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) at the time of proposal submission to the National Science Foundation. It is the responsibility of the NSF awarded PI to ensure that all personnel working on NSF funded projects receive the required training. Documentation of this training must be provided to the Research Office. The training requirement extends to all undergraduate students, graduate students, and post‐doctoral trainees working on NSF funded projects. While research methods classes and seminars may serve to partially fulfill this requirement, two additional offerings should be noted: Annual Winter Session Workshop on the Responsible Conduct of Research for Graduate Students and Post‐doctoral Trainees. This 2 day workshop is divided into half‐day modules that explore specific issues related to the Responsible Conduct of Research. Each half‐day session carries a separate non‐credit course number and completion is noted on student transcripts. Post‐doctoral fellows receive written certification of completion. CITI Responsible Conduct of Research Training. CITI has designed and implemented an RCR course that is partially funded by the Office of Research Integrity and DHHS. Completion of CITI training is reported to the Research Office for documentation, and those who complete the training may also print a completion certificate. CITI training is discipline specific, and participants should choose the program that most closely fits their programs of study.

5. NIH – Changes to Reporting Requirements (update) (Friday, March 22, 2013)

(1) See notice NOT-OD-12-160 to understand the changes to NIH Public Access Policy Reporting Requirements and Related Efforts to Enhance Compliance. (2) New Tools: NIH made changes to My NCBI that improve the workflow and communication between PD/PIs and non- PD/PI authors. It is now easier for PD/PIs to track compliance of all papers arising from their awards, even they do not author those papers. See more information here. (3) See Evidence of Compliance. (4) To review a recorded webinar designed for Compliance Officials at grantee institutions responsible for adhering to the NIH Public Access Policy see transcripts and slides here .

6. NIH – Research Performance Progress Report (Friday, February 15, 2013)

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has mandated that federal agencies implement a federal-wide research performance progress report (RPPR) for submission of required annual or other interim performance reporting on research grant and cooperative agreement awards to standardize recipient reporting on federally-funded research projects. NIH Implementation of the RPPR – All NIH grantees will have the option to use the RPPR for Streamlined Non-competing Award Process (SNAP) and Fellowship progress reports beginning 10/19/2012. The use of the RPPR will not be required at this time and grantees may continue to use eSNAP or paper submissions as appropriate.

7. NIH – Changes to Reporting Requirements (Friday, January 25, 2013)

With this Notice, NIH informs grantees that in Spring, 2013, at the earliest, NIH will delay processing of non-competing continuation grant awards if publications arising from that award are not in compliance with the NIH public access policy. The award will not be processed until recipients have demonstrated compliance. This change will take effect in tandem with NIH requiring the use of the Research Performance Progress Report (RPPRs) for all Streamlined Non-competing Award Process (SNAP) and Fellowship awards in the Spring of 2013 (see NIH NOT-OD-12-142).

NIH will simultaneously implement the procedural change outlined below to facilitate public access reporting in paper progress reports (PHS 2590) submitted on or after this ‘to be announced’ spring date.

8. NIH – Changes to Public Access Policy (Friday, January 25, 2013)

This webinar is designed for Compliance Officials at grantee institutions responsible for adhering to the NIH Public Access Policy.

9. NSF – Reporting Changes (Thursday, November 1, 2012)

All NSF project reporting will transfer from FastLane to Research.gov: the Research Performance Progress Report (RPPR) Principal investigators and co-PIs will use Research.gov to meet all NSF project reporting requirements, including submission of annual, final, and interim project reports and the project outcomes report. Where can I get more information? The following resources from Research.gov are very helpful to get started.

  1. Project Reporting Getting Started Guide (step-by-step instructions with great screen shots)
  2. FAQs
  3. Slides from their October webinar

10. NIH – Transition to Electronic Submission (Monday, October 1, 2012)

NIH has also announced its plans to transition to electronic submission of Multi-Project Applications. More information regarding this transition may be found in notice NOT-OD-12-161.