Track Descriptions

Clinical.

Sessions that address issues related to academic medical centers, hospitals, and related institutions that conduct research.

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Compliance.

Topics may include: human subjects research; animal subjects research; stem cell research; occupational safety and health, environmental and biosafety hazards; peer review; mentor/trainee responsibility and development; publications; collaborative research ethics; scientific misconduct; standards for the responsible conduct of research; and research ethics education programs, curricula, requirements, and approaches; export control compliance; conflict of interest; data security.

Contracting.

Topics may include: contract negotiation and monitoring, including for sponsored research, material transfer, and unfunded collaborations for all sponsor types (industry, non-profit, and government); confidentiality, data use and other unfunded agreements; subawards, subcontracts, and subrecipient monitoring; intellectual property; institutional policies and procedures pertaining to contracts; and analysis of problems that may arise in these areas.

Departmental and Predominantly Undergraduate Institutions (PUI).

Topics may include: proposal development and preparation including announcement review, budget development, institutional routing; direct working relationships with and support to faculty, financial accounting and management of the research funds; onboarding and guiding new faculty; providing “first‐line” support and being point of contact to internal (PI’s, staff, central office, other institutional offices, etc.) and external constituents on behalf of the PI/Study Team.

Topics may also include those specific to research administrators at two‐year, four‐year, masters‐level, and small doctoral colleges and universities that grant baccalaureate degrees, or provide programs of instruction for students pursuing such degrees with institutional transfers (e.g., two‐year schools), where undergraduate enrollment exceeds graduate enrollment, and no more than 10 Ph.D. or D.Sc. degrees are awarded per year. Such as: research administration in a teaching focused environment; programs that are unique to or aimed at PUIs; issues that are unique to organizations for whom research/sponsored projects are not mission critical.

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How to...

Hands-on, interactive sessions intended to show participants how to actually perform different research administration tasks. Participants should bring a laptop to get the most out of these sessions.

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Human Capital/Organizational Development.

Topics may include: career development; human resources; workplace environment and relations management; personal growth and development; leadership; quality of life development; self‐assessment; supervisor/staff relations; industrial/workplace psychology; succession planning; onboarding; training; getting involved in the larger research administration community, including NCURA.

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Pre‐Award.

Topics may include: pre‐award management activities at the central office; proposal development and assessment; research proposal review, endorsement and submission; management of specialized programs, e.g. clinical trials; non clinical, transition/transformation of programs to new stages in research; role of research administration in institutional policy formation. review and understanding of terms and conditions; Uniform Guidance regulations; federal regulatory requirements for pre‐award; role of research administration in institutional policy development; announcement review; management of specialized programs, e.g. clinical trials, program/center grants.

Post‐Award.

Topics may include: cost accounting; auditing; OMB and Uniform Guidance requirements for universities, hospitals, private sector; matching funds issues/cost sharing; financial conflict of interest issues; facilities and administration (F&A) costs; procurement and purchasing; salaries, compensation, honoraria; and travel allocability and allowability; working with sponsoring agencies.

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Updates.

Topics may include: Federal agency updates; agency‐specific programs and rules; and updates and initiatives from partner organizations such as COGR, FDP, etc.

Session Levels

Beginner or Primer

Participant assumes basic, or no understanding of the topics presented. A person with less than a year of experience in research administration would be the typical audience member.

Intermediate

Participant assumes mid‐level experience with the topics presented. The participant has had experience with subject matter and is somewhat knowledgeable and is generally trained on the basics of the topic (s) presented.

Advanced/Senior 

Participants are those with significant experience in the area, and includes those at Directors and Associate Directors level. These sessions should look to challenge even those fairly fluent on the topic, or provide an opportunity to discuss a perspective or complexity that is not ordinarily addressed for more basic audiences.

Session Formats

Concurrent Session

Formal Presentation Session type. This is a session with the speakers using a more formal lecture format, with some time reserved at the end for questions. It is the most formal structure. The majority of sessions will fall within this format. Feel free to manage your time to include Q&A at the end.

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Discussion Group

This session would have one or two moderators experienced in the topic, with an “audience” of 10 – 15 sitting around a table. It is an active exchange between the moderators and the audience. These topics tend to be extremely important to a smaller group of people, so expect to have more detailed discussions and case studies.

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