Blogs

Why Community Matters More Than Ever for Early-Career Research Administrators

By SRAI News
Community & Member Engagement | Spotlight Story Remote and hybrid work can lead to increased isolation. Through mentorship, peer support, and community, research administrators can build confidence, strengthen their connections, and achieve long-term success in the field. Research Administration is a rapidly changing habitat, which can be challenging for new professionals that are just getting their feet wet. Furthermore, while remote work might offer better work-life balance for some (Nagaprakash T. et al., 2024), it can lead to feelings of isolation and lack of institutional support among early-career research administrators. ...
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Indirect Costs Explained in a Practical Way

By SRAI News
Grant Development & Strategy | Explaining indirect costs to the non-research administrator can feel overwhelming, yet these costs can be explained in an easy-to-understand way while stressing their importance, necessity, and benefits When you sit down to discuss the first budget proposal with a potential principal investigator (PI), especially if they are new investigators, the question of indirect costs always comes up. Most project budgets include two types of costs: direct and indirect. Direct costs are obvious, but how do you explain indirect costs to your PIs and those new to budget development? Indirect costs aka overhead, facilities ...
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Prescribed Burns, Not Wildfires: Transforming Portfolio Management from Reactive to Strategic

By SRAI News
Operations & Workflow Management | We’ve all been there, standing in front of the wildfire called work, wondering how to tackle it. Many research administrators stand before the fire of reactive accounting; but can you change worlds without burning down the house? Yes. It takes time, but you can plan for tomorrow’s fire, today. All over our community, we are referred to as firefighters. We move from one firefight to another, and this tends to be the norm for many research administrators (RAs). Is it possible to move from being completely reactive to proactively planning and forecasting for your portfolios? Yes! Is it going to happen ...
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Travel Trouble: Hotels, Motels, Holiday Inn and Everything in Between

By SRAI News
Grant Management & Financial Oversight | When it comes to lodging, a little planning upfront can save a lot of trouble later. Learn how to navigate lodging decisions, avoid common pitfalls, and make choices that won’t come back to haunt you later. Federal regulations on lodging are intentionally broad, requiring only that costs be reasonable. That sounds straightforward, but in practice, “reasonable” can be highly subjective—especially when your audience ranges from undergraduate students to senior researchers. Thankfully, the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) provides per diem rates that offer a helpful benchmark. While ...
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The Role of Research in the Professional Development of Research Administrators

By SRAI News
Career Growth & Leadership | How can research administrators help close the profession’s knowledge gaps? By doing research themselves. Explore how research in practice can drive better outcomes, efficiency, and professional growth. Research administrators are drivers of research and innovation, providing quiet support through proposal development, alleviating administrative burden, and more. Their work often unnoticed, these professionals drive the nascent research administration profession. However, significant knowledge gaps persist. One way to fill the gaps is through research in practice. Research in practice involves undertaking ...
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A Midcareer Pivot into Research Administration: Lessons from Startup Environments & Rethinking Professional Pathways

By SRAI News
Career Growth & Leadership | The world of entrepreneurship is fast-paced and unpredictable. In some ways, professionals in startups must be just as adaptable as the average research administrator. And yet, some might raise an eyebrow at those transitioning into research administration from non-traditional backgrounds. However, the versatile nature of our profession is a strength we should embrace. There is no one set path to success. Research administration is often seen as a highly technical field, one you can only master after years spent working in sponsored programs offices or university departments. But that’s not the whole story. ...
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Research Security Training: What, Who, and Why You Need it for Proposal Submissions

By SRAI News
Grant Development & Strategy | Research Security is the latest buzz word in research administration. What is it, why should we care, and who is responsible? This article discusses the history and evolution of research security as we know it today, and what pre-award professionals need to know to ensure compliance from the very beginning. Research Security is the latest buzzword, now here to stay, with many funding agencies changing or adding policies that require mandatory security training certifications at the point of proposal submissions. For example, the National Science Foundation (NSF) currently requires each senior personnel ...
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From Signature to Stewardship: Building Cross-Functional Contracting Workflows That Strengthen Research Administration

By SRAI News
Operations & Workflow Management | A contract’s signature is not the finish line—it is the starting point. Strong research institutions move beyond transactional contracting and build collaborative workflows that support monitoring, compliance, and sustainability. Here’s how cross-functional infrastructure transforms agreements into scalable stewardship systems. Research administrators (RAs) face pressure to increase efficiencies to help address federal funding and compliance changes, broader issues facing higher education, and shrinking resources. The authors explore applying free open AI solutions to some common operations tasks. ...
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NIH Clinical Trial Reforms and the Evolving Research Transparency Landscape

By SRAI News
Regulatory & Compliance Oversight | The NIH recently reclassified BESH studies as non-clinical trials, reducing registration and reporting burdens, while simultaneously aligning its “intervention” definition with the 2018 Common Rule, expanding the scope of clinical trials. These conflicting decisions highlight the tension between administrative burden and research transparency amid growing expectations for research accountability. After prolonged debate, in January of 2026, the NIH announced it would no longer classify basic experimental studies involving humans (“BESH”) as meeting the definition of a “clinical trial,” effectively ...
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Catalyst Quarterly: April 2026

By SRAI News
View the Full Issue (PDF)* Volume 02, Issue 01: April 2026 Editor's Note Dear Readers, I am delighted to introduce the first issue of volume 2 of the Catalyst Quarterly. We started our journey at the beginning of last year with a lot of ambiguity surrounding the reception of this new magazine format. Since then, the number of submissions has been consistently growing, resulting in a significant increase in the publication’s reach and impact. We couldn’t be more pleased going into this second volume. 2025 was a year of major changes in our field, and as all of us regain our footing, it’s important to remember the fundamental knowledge ...
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Deciphering the Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education: Current State and Long-Term Impact

By SRAI News
Op-Ed | Please note that the following op-ed discussion is based on the authors’ analysis of the Compact and not a reflection of the editors’ or SRAI’s views. The Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education is a proposal by the Trump administration to offer universities preferential access to federal funding and benefits in exchange for adopting a wide range of policies aligned with the administration's agenda. This two-part article breaks down the Compact and discusses its potential long-term impact. Part One: Overview and Current State of the “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education The Compact for ...
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Why Research Administration Needs More Storytelling: Making the Quiet Wins Visible

By SRAI News
Career Growth & Leadership | (Part I) Research administration runs on quiet wins—decisions, judgment calls, and interventions that rarely appear in metrics. This article explores why invisible labor matters, how storytelling strengthens professional identity, and why naming the work behind smooth outcomes is essential to how the field is understood and valued. Research administration is powered by countless decisions and interventions that rarely appear in dashboards, reports, or award announcements. While success is often measured in proposals submitted, dollars awarded, or studies launched, much of what actually keeps research ...
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Shifting Landscape: DEI Policy Changes and Their Impact on Government Funding and Institutional Practices

By SRAI News
Current Affairs | Spotlight Story As federal DEI priorities undergo a rapid rewrite, this article cuts through the noise to reveal what the legal and regulatory pivots actually mean for research funding and institutional operations, providing a strategic roadmap for navigating the transition while upholding core commitments to inclusive excellence. US federal policy shifts have imposed significant constraints on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in publicly funded institutions. The current administration’s rollback of affirmative action and increased scrutiny of DEI-related funding have forced institutions to reevaluate ...
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5 Research Security Questions Every Study Team Should Be Able to Answer

By SRAI News
Regulatory & Compliance Oversight | Research security doesn’t start in an office—it starts with study teams. This article reframes research security as a set of everyday decisions and introduces five essential questions teams should be able to answer to protect data, participants, and institutional trust. Research security is often framed just as a technical or compliance-driven issue—something managed through policies, systems, or oversight offices. But the most consequential security decisions are made much closer to the ground. They happen within study teams, through everyday choices about funding, data, participants, collaborators, ...
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Late Career Transitions: The Art of Embracing New Possibilities

By SRAI News
Community & Member Engagement | Is it ever too late to contemplate a career transition? Based on my experience, I would say the answer is “no.” Job satisfaction and personal fulfillment are sometimes hard to align, but no one should spend time unhappy at work. Knowing when to go is crucial not only for job satisfaction but for personal growth as well. In this article, I describe my professional journey and evolution, including a surprising late career change that allows me to grow in new and unexpected ways. In today’s world, job satisfaction and personal fulfillment are sometimes hard to align. For the past 23 years, I have been ...
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Designing AI Together: Lessons From Building with Research Administrators

By SRAI News
Grant Development & Strategy | AI in research administration works best when it's built with the people who do the work, not just for them. The open collaboration with Denver Health's research admin team allowed Atom Grants to develop an AI tool in a way no other roadmap ever could. When people ask me what it’s like to build Artificial Intelligence (AI) for research administration, I tell them that it’s a team sport. Not a metaphorical one, a literal collaboration between our product team and the administrators who live inside these workflows every day. When we began working with Denver Health and Hospital Authority (DHHA), I knew ...
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Things I Wish I Knew Before Implementing a Grants Management System

By SRAI News
Grant Management & Financial Oversight | When you implement an EGMS, you must know your systems, map your processes, ask more questions than you think during training, coordinate early with IT, and decide what stays and what goes. You’ll learn about your own processes and potentially improve them. It’ll empower your entire research enterprise. Electronic grants management systems (EGMS) are game-changing, but several considerations should guide you before and during implementation. One of the most important is understanding your internal systems—accounting, HR, and workflow tools—and identifying where integration is possible, desired, ...
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Let’s Talk About Change… We did at VA SIG

By SRAI News
Community & Member Engagement Let’s Talk About Change… We did at VA SIG Spotlight Story Special Interest Group (SIG) meetings can act as a low-stakes environment for Research Administrators to gather amongst peers to network, learn, and share ideas. At our last VA SIG meeting, we talked about the changes taking place in the profession, and the increasing resilience and adaption needed to persevere in support of the national research enterprise. The second annual SRAI Virginia Special Interest Group (VA SIG) meeting took place on Friday, July 18, 2025, at the beautiful campus of the University of Richmond, in Richmond, Virginia. ...
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AI Applications in Research Administration Operations

By SRAI News
Operations & Workflow Management AI Applications in Research Administration Operations Free open AI tools could be used with non-confidential information to strengthen communications and other plans, create onboarding and training resources, and complete custom workflow tasks. Research administrators (RAs) face pressure to increase efficiencies to help address federal funding and compliance changes, broader issues facing higher education, and shrinking resources. The authors explore applying free open AI solutions to some common operations tasks. RAs could use free tools with care not to breach confidentiality (Schultz, 2025b). ...
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Unlocking Hidden Value: Why Research Administration and Compliance Professionals Should Consider the PMP

By SRAI News
Career Growth & Leadership Unlocking Hidden Value: Why Research Administration and Compliance Professionals Should Consider the PMP Mila Babaev, CIP, reveals how everyday tasks in research administration and compliance are really project management in action and why pursuing the PMP® credential is worthwhile. Discover why it's worth the investment. If you work in research administration or compliance, chances are you have managed more projects than you realize. Whether you have led an audit process, updated SOP’s, coordinated grant or contract workflows, overseen quality assurance activities or organized educational outreach for researchers, ...
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