Page Updated: September 25th, 2018
Basic: Intended for participants who are new to research administration or the topic. These sessions will assume some fundamental understanding of the field of research administration but will be at an introductory or general overview level.
Intermediate: Intended for staff who are interested in learning more about the topic functions and services in research administration. These sessions will require fundamental understanding and will deliver content that exceeds the basics.
Senior Level: Intended for participants with 5+ years of experience in research administration. Facilitators will assume that attendees have strong knowledge of the topic being presented. Discussion will be in depth. These forums will focus on mastering more difficult and complex scenarios related to each topic. Attendance in the Senior Level Sessions is limited to 30 people.
Symposium Discussion Groups are facilitated conversations. They may include a short formal presentation by a panel or presenter but most of the time spent will be in a discussion and interaction where the group’s attendees as well as the facilitators share information.
Symposium Concurrent Presentations are sessions that include mostly lecture with some time for question and answer.
Program Level: Basic Concurrent Session
Location: Overture Room
Description: Research administration is a broad field with many opportunities for professional growth, development, and change. Those of us currently in research administration have varying interests and goals that can impact our job satisfaction. The structure of some units may also limit opportunities for growth or advancement. From departmental to central administration, pre-award to post-award administration, or related positions with technology transfer, intellectual property, education/training, or compliance, an open mind can broaden both your view and your skill set. Change can be daunting, however, and the uncertainty can lead to inertia. The session will cover the range of opportunities within research administration, how to assess what types of positions are right for you, and how to navigate changes in focus area.
Learning Objectives:
Presented By:
Files:
Program Level: Intermediate Discussion Section
Location: Concerto Room
Description: Navigating a grant to closeout is like playing a board game. Grant administrators want to make a purchase and do it quickly, but many times rules of the institution, award terms, or a situation sends you back to start. Grant Land takes on the Candy Land theme to show grant administrators that grant management is not a simple start to finish game. The object of the game is to reach the Closeout Castle by managing a grant correctly from the time of award to closeout. Players need to avoid award management pitfalls that send them back to start or delay progress.
Learning Objectives: In this session, learners will:
Presented By:
Files:
Program Level: Intermediate Discussion Section
Location: Sonata Room
Description: "How do I get around indirect costs?" "When is the absolute latest I can get this proposal to you?" Engage in a discussion with two campus experts about the most difficult, yet very common, pre-award questions related to indirect costs and proposal deadlines. We will look at these topics from multiple perspectives, including that of the PI, the Center/Department, the School/College and the Central Office. This session will focus on positive ways to respond to indirect cost and proposal deadline inquiries (and even challenges) as we help our researchers submit high-quality, compliant proposals. Multiple real-life scenarios will be discussed, including times where things didn't go well.
Learning Objectives:
Presented By:
Files:
Program Level: Senior Level Concurrent Session
Location: Ed Gordon Suite
Description: Over the past year, the College of Engineering’s Office of Research has prioritized development of infrastructure and services to support the research mission of CoE. To this end, CoE’s Research Services team has created and implemented an outreach program to assist faculty researchers (particularly junior faculty) in development of their research agenda. The components of the outreach program currently include training for new faculty, a quarterly newsletter, an annual workshop on development of NSF CAREER proposals, a resources repository for faculty (currently in development), and enhanced outreach to departmental and center research administrators within CoE. In this session, members of the CoE Research Services team will share why and how these components of the outreach program were developed, challenges faced and lessons learned during their development and implementation, and a preliminary assessment of their effectiveness. This session could be of interest to both pre- and post-award research administrators.
Learning Objectives:
Presented By:
Program Level: Basic Concurrent Session
Location: Overture Room
Description: While a key component of research on campus is often money, there are other factors that influence the ability to do research. One such factor is whether the researchers have the physical materials to conduct the studies and experiments identified in the research plan. In order to get those materials, researchers often rely on a material transfer agreement to bring in the material. During this session, we will cover the basics of material transfer agreements and how they interact with the research project.
Learning Objectives:
After participating in this session, learners will be able to answer the following questions:
Presented By:
Files:
Program Level: Intermediate Concurrent Session
Location: Concerto Room
Description: The presenters will walk the audience through the new NIH E-forms. We will help the audience determine what needs to be completed for animals only, exempt research, clinical research and clinical trials. And if applicable for your project, we will provide details on completing the new Human Subjects section. We will also provide samples for each of the added sections!
Learning Objectives:
Upon completion of this session, participants should be able to:
Presented By:
Files:
Program Level: Intermediate Concurrent Session
Location: Sonata Room
Description: Some cost-related questions are easily answered. We love being able to respond with an unqualified “Yes.” However, situations are rarely simple and do not necessarily follow an ideal course of action. When we are faced with situations involving costing questions (some strange and some not so strange), how should we respond? During this session, we will discuss a variety of case studies and identify what issues they pose. We will talk about what resources are available to help people work through situations and walk through potential approaches.
Learning Objectives:
Presented By:
Files:
Program Level: Senior Level Discussion Session
Location: Ed Gordon Suite
Description: The DHHS Salary Cap can throw a wrench into the grant management process. Please join us for a discussion and group practice to keep the gears running smoothly. This session will focus on the proactive management of staff paid over the allowable salary cap rate. As Departments are responsible for ensuring compliance with any salary limitations imposed by sponsors, we will discuss and practice UW recommended procedures for set-up, maintenance and certification of salary charges limited by the DHHS cap rate.
Learning Objectives:
After attending this session, participants will have a deeper understanding of:
Presented By:
Program Level: Basic Concurrent Session
Location: Overture Room
Description: This session will provide a basic understanding of National Science Foundation (NSF) participant support costs. NSF participant support costs will be defined and allowable expense categories will be reviewed. We will also address how to budget these types of costs at the pre-award stage and discuss the corresponding implications at the post-award stage. We will use examples and tools to bolster attendees’ understanding of NSF participant support costs. There will be interactive activities involved to apply the material.
Learning Objectives:
After attending this session participants will:
Presented By:
Files:
Program Level: Intermediate Concurrent Session
Location: Concerto Room
Description: We will present facts about Vilas and Vilas awards and bring news about important updates to salary and fringe costs on some Vilas awards. The updates have already been communicated as they became effective July 1, 2018, but we want to make sure the message has been received and understood, and to give campus research administrators the chance to ask questions. The basic facts about Vilas and Vilas awards will be drawn from last year's "The Truth About Vilas" presentation, but will be shortened to allow for the new material.
Learning Objectives:
After this session, participants will have:
Presented By:
Files:
Program Level: Intermediate Concurrent Session
Location: Sonata Room
Description: This session will cover how to apply for NIH fellowships (F31, F30 or F32 mechanisms). Many aspects of NIH Fellowships are different from typical graduate student or postdoctoral position funding. The goal of this session will be to provide resources and procedures for administrators to assist with successful applications. We will review application guidelines and resources, including budget preparation. We will discuss how to use Cayuse and prepare various administrative sections of the proposal.
Learning Objectives:
After attending this session learners will be able to:
Presented By:
Files:
Program Level: Senior Level Discussion Session
Location: Ed Gordon Suite
Description: We all get frustrated with cost transfers that are sent back for more information or because the justification isn’t acceptable to the approver. “It was approved last time with no issues, why not this time?” The facilitators will lead a discussion about what makes for a good cost transfer justification from a division and central perspective. They will share their thoughts on what makes a cost transfer audit ready and easily understood for those that are more than twice removed from the transfer story. Attendees are welcome to bring examples and the group can discuss and share ideas about real transfer situations.
Learning Objectives:
In this session, participants will:
Presented By:
Files:
Program Level: Basic Discussion Session
Location: Overture Room
Description: Have you wondered what professional development opportunities exist to learn and grow as a research administrator? This session will dive into the continuing education opportunities offered by RED, NCURA, master’s degree programs, and professional certifications.
Learning Objectives:
Presented By:
Files:
Program Level: Intermediate Concurrent Session
Location: Concerto Room
Description: This session is for post-award financial research administrators in department or division/deans offices. Hear from an accounts receivable analyst on RSP’s Revenue Management Team and the Assistant Dean for Research Administration in the College of Engineering’s Research Services. Review the lifecycle of an invoice and UW’s collections cycle and the role of the Revenue Management Team in following up on outstanding payments. Clarify some related accounting concepts including Revenue and Accounts Receivable. Talk about the role of the division/deans offices in financial responsibility and procedures that can be implemented to reduce financial risk. Learn about some WISDM/WISER and division dashboard tools for information about invoices and payments. Gain insight into helpful communications between the Revenue Management Team and departments or division/deans offices. This session does not cover clinical trials.
Learning Objectives:
Presented By:
Files:
Program Level: Intermediate Concurrent Session
Location: Sonata Room
Description: This session will cover how to administer NIH fellowships (F31, F30 or F32 mechanisms) if awarded. Many aspects of NIH Fellowships are different from typical graduate student or postdoctoral position funding. The goal of this session will be to provide resources and procedures for award management. We will walk through the process of how to respond to a Just-in-time request, activate an award, and how to administer payroll, tuition and other charges. We will also touch on the closeout process for these specialized awards, including use of Xtrain within eRA commons.
Learning Objectives:
Presented By:
Files:
Program Level: Senior Level Concurrent Session
Location: Ed Gordon Suite
Description: How can you help investigators craft more effective proposals when time and resources are limited? While pre-award administrators typically focus on managing budgets, compliance, letters of support, and other key pieces of a grant submission, there are many ways you can help PIs craft stronger proposals. Research administrators from the Department of Surgery will discuss several approaches successfully adopted within their department. First, using the example of the Wisconsin Surgical Outcomes Research Program (WiSOR), we will describe how a faculty-driven grant writing group has helped junior and senior faculty write successful proposals and learn to give effective feedback. Groups such as these can be established with little administrative burden and almost exclusively in-house expertise. Second, we will discuss departmental efforts to streamline the proposal writing process, including the development and circulation of boilerplate language for grant sections. In this interactive session, participants will have the opportunity to explore ways to harness existing departmental resources to develop low-cost, low-effort methods of supporting the grant writing process, and they will leave with a tailored action plan to implement these methods.
Learning Objectives:
Participants will learn:
Presented By:
Program Level: Basic Discussion Session
Location: Overture Room
Description: We work in a complex environment that involves collaborating with many different types of people and personalities at different organizational levels. The foundation of great working relationships is strong and effective communication skills, especially when working closely with different types of PIs. Come learn how to improve your communication skills and build successful, collaborative relationships with different types of PIs to gain confidence, clarity, and credibility.
Learning Objectives:
Presented By:
Files:
Program Level: Intermediate Concurrent Session
Location: Concerto Room
Description: What are the steps a research administrator should take when a PI asks to buy equipment with sponsored project funding? What must a research administrator consider when including an equipment item in a proposal budget? What responsibilities fall on the research administrator and his/her department after purchasing capital equipment with sponsored project funding? This session will address these questions, address capital equipment items through the award lifecycle, and more, with the aim of demystifying the topic of capital equipment on sponsored projects. Participants are asked to please bring cell phones or laptops to engage in interactive activities throughout the session.
Learning Objectives:
After attending this session, participants will be able to:
Presented By:
Files:
Program Level: Intermediate Concurrent Session
Location: Sonata Room
Description: Most administrators recognize and know about traditional federal grants. But what happens when the federal government decides to send the money through a different mechanism? In this session, we will talk about another mechanism that the government uses to send money – contracts. During this session, we will go over some the differences between a grant and contract, unique elements to keep in mind with federal contracts, and some key concepts to help with the processing of a federal contract.
Learning Objectives:
After attending this session, participants will be able to answer the following questions:
Presented By:
Files:
Program Level: Senior Level Discussion Session
Location: Ed Gordon Suite
Description: Let’s face it . . . research administration can be a high stress occupation. With this session, we are hoping to discuss with you some ideas on how to minimize burnout and stay fresh. Come prepared to participate!
Learning Objectives:
After attending this session, participants will:
Presented By: