Catalyst

Spotlight: Allowability, Allocability, Reasonableness | Part 1: Incorporating AAR into the Research Administrator’s Daily Routine The Spotlight closes out the year with a study of allowability, allocability and reasonableness (AAR), essential skills in the research administrator’s toolkit. This series will define and provide examples of AAR costs, read more

Note from the Editor | Living in Transformation Station As Research Administrators, we work in a world of ever-changing rules and regulations. In other words, we live in Transformation Station, that proverbial place where everything around us might change while we are in mid-stride (i.e.. in the middle of the proposal development process), or read more

View from the Top | Building Momentum Thank you to everyone who made this year’s SRAI Annual Meeting in Chicago a tremendous success! The energy and excitement were palpable throughout the five days of learning, networking, and celebrating. Sessions were well attended, and participants were highly engaged, asking insightful questions and sharing read more

Empowering Diversity Part III | The Future of AI in Research Administration and Its Role in Enhancing DEI Artificial intelligence (AI) can impact the multigenerational workforce in significant and dynamic ways by influencing workplace roles and other aspects. It provides opportunities to improve workforce performance, team building, and interactions read more

Look Up and Smell the Roses: Impact and Meaning of RA Work Research administrators are involved in meaningful and impactful work that supports and improves the lives of others. This is easy to miss when engaged in the daily grind and never-ending paperwork. Always take time and reflect on the impact this work has on our institutions and society. read more

You Say Potato, I Hear Tomato: Communication Challenges in Research Administration When I was 11 years old, we moved from a small town near Pisa, Italy to El Paso, Texas. My dad was in the US Army, and we had been in Europe for eight years at that point. We approached El Paso like being in another foreign country because most people we encountered read more

Inviting an Elephant up the Stairs: Improving Communication through Improv Improvisation is about listening and helping individuals work together to improve communication, enhance teamwork, increase creativity, and create more open and better leadership. Improv skills align perfectly with the necessary skills required to be a successful research read more

SRAI Professional Development Framework In 2023, SRAI commissioned a task force to develop a systematic framework to be used as a tool to assist with identifying the knowledge and capabilities required to be an effective research administrator and to guide practitioners through their career journey. At the 2024 SRAI Annual Meeting in Chicago, the read more

Your Questions Answered | Advancing Your Career Throughout this year, the Catalyst will feature a question posed to our panel of SRAI Distinguished Faculty members to get their take on all sorts of topics encompassing research administration. Do you have a research administration question for our experts? Send your questions to catalyst@srainternational.org read more

Note from the Editor | Expanding Our Horizons This month’s Catalyst aims to inspire new ideas, strengthen connections, and propel your professional growth as we get ready to wrap up the year and start planning to prepare for 2025. We’re thrilled to bring you Part 3 of Hanna Bates’ insightful series on Relationship Building . This latest installment read more

Introducing Our New Distinguished Faculty Members! Please join us in celebrating the recent induction of these exceptional members as SRAI Distinguished Faculty: Terry Campbell Mir Khan Mark Lucas Karen Mitchell Pamela Montgomery Nana Oye Akuffo Maria Soliman Jennifer Woodward Click here to learn more about read more

Relationship Building | Part 3: Putting it all Together: Effective Communication Resolves Conflicts The Spotlight concludes its relationship-building series with a focus on how to draw upon effective listening and communication techniques to effectively mitigate conflicts at work. Potentially harmful situations can be transformed into positive outcomes read more

Empowering Diversity Part II: Potential Cautions of AI on Diversity, Engagement and Inclusion (DEI) in Research Administration AI, with its potential to revolutionize how organizations approach DEI in research administration, offers significant benefits. Its ability to swiftly and accurately process large volumes of data using advanced algorithms read more

A New Approach to Career Paths: Career Latticing – Benefits and Pitfalls: Part 2 Last month, we looked at the concept of a career lattice approach to professional growth and development, rather than a career ladder with defined succession steps rising to the top of an organization. This month we will touch on the benefits and pitfalls of following read more