Pre-conference Workshops

This workshop, intended for individuals with fewer than three years' experience, is designed to give newcomers to research administration a big picture of the profession. Topics covered will include finding funding opportunities; orienting new faculty to the research environment; pre- and post-award administration; proposal development, submission, review and award negotiation; administrative and fiscal regulations; accountability and risk management; and research, fiscal, and professional ethics.

This workshop will provide a basic understanding of the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FARs) and agency supplemental regulations . Participants will learn to the basics of the federal contracting process, how to navigate the FARs, how to negotiate FARs and supplemental regulations in contracts. Also, how and why it is important to properly document the corresponding award file.

Are you new to pre-award or do you feel overwhelmed when a PI contacts you for help developing a budget? Then let us help you not only understand the fundamentals of creating an effective budget for both federal and private grants, but also give you tips and tricks for creating time-saving templates. We will discuss effort and the considerations needed to account for the NIH salary cap, the benefits of a detailed travel budget, and calculating the correct F&A base. Additionally, translating the budget to the budget justification will be discussed.

This half-day workshop will provide a comprehensive review of the key issues faced by academic institutions when negotiating clinical trial agreements with pharmaceutical and biotech companies, with specific in-depth focus on the following provisions: publication rights, ownership of intellectual property, confidentiality, indemnification and study subject injury.

Superman may be faster than a speeding bullet, but according to Steven M.R. Covey, “nothing is as fast as the speed of trust.” In our fast-paced, deadline-driven, and compliance-focused profession, we are constantly presented with opportunities to build or diminish trust. This workshop pulls from Covey’s best seller The Speed of Trust: The One Thing That Changes Everything to examine how the economics of trust impact research administration. The goal of this workshop is to demonstrate how you can develop and leverage trust to positively impact research administration within your organization. First, we will take a deeper look at how the lack of trust impacts our profession; then, we will explore how to make trust actionable through self-trust and relationship trust. By learning and employing the Four Cores of Credibility and the 13 Behaviors of High-Trust Leaders, you will be armed with useful tools to lead and work with trust. Despite our best intentions and efforts, there will be times that trust is lost, whether we lose trust in others or others lose trust in us. So, we will conclude with actionable steps to restore lost trust.

What’s that expression: We are so busy doing that forgot why we are doing. Not infrequently, the everyday demands of research compliance make us forget the why’s behind our practices. The immediate gets in the way of the important, of the why. This session looks at those whys: the history, the ethics, the principles, and the regulations that are the why of our policies and practices. Specific focus will be directed towards human subjects research, research with animals, conflict of interest and research misconduct.

The strength of research administration comes from its multigenerational workforce, and these five generations of research administrators bring diversity in thinking, problem-solving, technical skills, and creativity to the workplace and are the talent pipelines within our organizations. Engaging each of these generations effectively and productively, independently and collectively, can be a challenge for leaders which can then be exacerbated by hybrid and remote work. As busy leaders, we often fail to think strategically about how to communicate with, professionally develop, and lead our workforce. This interactive workshop will focus on understanding the mindset of each of the five generations about their work, communicating effectively with each generation, and bridging the divide between these generations. Participants will have the opportunity to discuss and develop best practices and strategies for engaging their multigenerational team, so that all team members find reward and satisfaction in their work, regardless of generation. Additionally, participants will assess how their leadership and managerial styles impact (positively or negatively) a multigenerational workforce.

This workshop will identify the pass-through's (grantee's) requirements that must be performed when issuing a subaward. We will describe the process for classifying a subrecipient/contractor, the risk assessment, documentation of monitoring, and the indirect rate process on subawards.

The "theory of everything" (TOE) is a hypothetical theory studied in physics; its intent is to fully explain and link together all known physical phenomena. The Introduction to Research Law workshop is similar to TOE in that it attempts to explain and link together all known issues of research administration. Legal issues arise throughout research, starting with intellectual property issues, continuing through contract and grant matters and living on in post research licensing, "derivative works disputes" and post-clinical trial liability questions. This workshop is for new research administrators who need a "boot camp" approach to recognizing the legal issues that they will face daily

The Research Administrators guide to compliance in managing sponsored awards is the Uniform Guidance. Each institution uses these federal regulations as its foundation for setting policy and developing processes to ensure compliance. Understanding the rules and where to find them is a key to the success of any of us in this profession. This workshop will use the Uniform Guidance as the “handout” for the session so that participants can work their way through the regulations to identify key clauses, important changes from the 2020 Federal Register, and understand how to use the document as a valuable tool. We will have slides but come join us to learn where those words on the slides come from.

o This required workshop for the Research Integrity certificate will provide participants with an overview of the role of research administrators in establishing and preserving cultures of integrity in the research enterprises within their institutions. The connection between institutional compliance programs and ethical decision-making at both individual and organizational levels will be explored and historical events that have created increased awareness of scientific integrity will be reviewed. The workshop will focus on participant interaction and case analysis to identify strategies that strengthen organizational cultures of compliance and conscience

Negotiating a contract can often send an administrator along a series of twists and turns. Sometimes we slide backward, but we work to keep climbing forward. This interactive workshop will use a game to take participants through example contracting scenarios where it seems you are at an impasse. New details can lead to new pathways forward with a goal of winning when an agreement between the parties is reached. Breakout groups will also facilitate discussion groups on contracting topics. Do you want to have some fun and learn best practices to win at contracting?

Financial compliance is crucial for preventing fraud, avoiding institutional mismanagement, and ensuring proper management of federal funds. How can departments navigate the vast array of regulations and reporting prescribed by sponsors?
This session will address the following objectives:
-Overview and application of regulations that oversee financial management and reporting.
-Best departmental internal controls practices that ensure financial compliance.
-Identify best practices regarding award closeout and audit.

The 21st century research community has become global, with increased international collaboration and changing demographics of the U.S. population. As fewer US students pursue graduate degrees in science and technology, research administrators increasingly are working with faculty and graduate students from around the world. At the same time, international collaborations are becoming more common, especially for large, collaborative projects. Consequently, awareness of cultural differences is crucial for research administrators to function effectively. Diverse cultural characteristics and communication patterns need to be considered in hiring and managing staff, forming research teams, developing proposals, and managing funded projects. Drawing from research, literature, and case studies, this workshop will help participants to understand the changing demographics of the U.S. research community, learn characteristics, cultural traits and communication patterns of diverse populations, recognize barriers to effective intercultural communication in research development and administration, and apply current strategies and best practices to developing effective research and administrative teams. Participants will explore case study scenarios, learn and use tools that assess knowledge of other cultures, share their own experiences, and learn strategies, solutions and best practices for enhancing intercultural communication.

This workshop is based on a 4-part series successfully presented to Seattle Children’s Research Institute to key-stakeholders (finance, sponsored research, clinical trial office and GCAs) to get a better understanding of the clinical trial process. This workshop will look to provide training to participants on how to effectively and successfully conduct clinical research trials. This workshop focuses on the full spectrum of clinical research and the research process by highlighting key components of a clinical trial, understanding clinical trial budgets, coverage analysis and billing designations, budget reconciliation and milestone invoicing and patient care reconciliation and compliance.

This Learning Lab’s goal is to demonstrate how research administrators can overcome their writing anxieties and develop scholarly articles that could be published by a professional journal. It will introduce the complex process of academic publishing and include targeted exercises to demystify the writing process, taking an often overwhelming process and breaking it into manageable pieces. Learning Lab participants will develop basic competencies in written communication, including planning, writing, peer-reviewing, revising, and submitting a scientific or academic manuscript for publication. Participants should bring a list of ways they have already contributed to the research administration field (e.g., through their area of expertise, through conference presentations, etc.) so that by the end of the session, they can envision how to build on those efforts to develop a peer-reviewed journal article. Lab content will also address writing-related anxiety, time management, organization, editing, and responding to reviewers. This Learning Lab is for research administrators at any level who aspire to author a manuscript for a peer-reviewed journal that describes a professional activity that advances the conduct of research administration.

As Dr. Seuss wrote, “Oh, the places you’ll go! Your mountain is waiting so get on your way.” If you need help climbing that mountain to NRSA funding success, this session will ensure you are confident and sure-footed in keeping your trainees and fellows on the safe path to funding. This interactive workshop will focus on issues specific to grants awarded under the auspices of Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Awards, specifically Individual Fellowships (F's) and Institutional Training Grants (T32's). Scale new heights with an overview of the Kirschstein-NRSA Guidelines, recent and anticipated changes and navigate the mandatory electronic submission process for applications and forms.

If you “Google” leadership theory, you will be inundated with all sorts of philosophies, strategies, and advice. But what’s different in a research management context? Leaders in research management work with brilliant people such as scientists, physicians, and academics and this can be intimidating. Research managers are often put in a position to influence people over whom they have no direct line management. Within institutions, research management may be seen as of secondary importance to the “real” administrative issues like finance, HR, IT, etc. Research managers must therefore be skilled advocates for research management priorities. To rise through the ranks and have an impact on both very intelligent researchers, and senior administrators, research managers must hone a very special skill set. It takes inner strength and confidence to rise to a level where top professionals will listen and learn. This workshop will focus on translating theory into best practices to achieve leadership success.

The process of building high functioning teams, with high team morale and strong engagement, begins with building a great leadership team. But what happens when your leadership team is fully remote or working a hybrid schedule? It requires a strong vision, excellent communication, a good deal of time and consistent effort. Our workshop will focus on connection, purpose, motivation, understanding, and accountability among your teams and how this has changed since the pandemic began. The purpose of this workshop is to provide participants with tools to develop a strong leadership team on any budget whether the team is in person, remote, hybrid or a combination. A leadership team is most effective when there is a united front among its leaders and a unified, trusting, and high-performing leadership team WILL impact the individual contributors at the organization in a positive way. Leaders will behave in a way that employees will be able to model leading to an ROI for the organization that is high. With a GREAT leadership team, the organization experiences better productivity and the strategic vision for an organization's research administration enterprise becomes the reality.

By diving deep into what makes us who we are, we’re doing the work to define our professional brand.  How do I show up for my organization, my team, and myself?  Through internationally recognized tools, like Enneagram, Meyers Briggs, and more personal, less structured ways, we learn to assess ourselves to understand our behaviors in life and thus, within our organizations, setting a foundation for how we participate within teams.  There are many approaches we will discuss to maximize the probability of building and sustaining effective, engaged teams.  We will focus on building teams, leading teams, participating within a team, and sustaining team performance and engagement.  Topics will include discussions around best practices in hiring, onboarding, training, and sustaining team performance through feedback streams, professional development, celebration of accomplishments AND failures, metrics management and much more!  

Even advanced research administrators have budget questions! Using a NIH U01 Research Project Cooperative Agreement Funding Opportunity, the presenters will explore more complicated budget issues that may arise while also building a budget in real time following Uniform Guidance. Participants will also learn how to customize their budget process in order to address the idiosyncrasies inherent in a variety of funders.