1. Research Infrastructure and Growth:
Succession Planning for Sustainable Research
Sandra L. Justice, BA, USF CRA-Advanced, College of Arts and Sciences, University of South Florida
John Giannoni, Lt. Col. (USAF Ret), BBA, MSE, Patel College for Global Sustainability, University of South Florida
Evolving Research Support
What’s your Indirect Rate? A global perspective of Indirect rates
1. USA average at 55%
2. Japan there is a flat rate of 30%
3. United Kingdom calculate on a per-project basis
4. Horizon 2020 (all EU grants) flat rate of 25%
How are recovered indirect dollars supporting the research
infrastructure? (Transparency builds Trust)
In 2015, Huron Consulting provided recommendations for USF’s research
operational structure:
• Streamlined central research offices (e.g. Sponsored Research)
• Increase distribution of indirect cost recovery to research community
• Establish robust research admin. service centers with institutional
authority to submit proposals.
Background Reflecting 25 Years Sustainable Research Support
How do we mitigate the faculty burden? Dedicated support
As innovation is a key ingredient the future of research. Evolving the
support infrastructure. Leveraging recovered overhead. Key is
significant and transparent investment in the research
infrastructure. Investing in research administration models that fit the
organizational need, and flexibility to change as the institution evolves
and needs change. Models include: Shared services managed
centrally, grass root support in departments and centers, and the ‘Long
Ranger’ wearing multiple hats at PUI.
Nimble Research Support
What if sponsors mandated how indirect dollars were re-
invested in the research infrastructure?
What if there was a requirement for greater transparency?
Works Cited
Karen A. Holbrook and Paul R. Sanberg, Understanding the High Cost of Research, Technology
and Innovation, Vol. 15, pp. 281–283, 2013.
Overheads Under the Microscope, Sources US Department of Health and Human Services, NIH
RePORTER database, “Indirect Costs: Keeping the Lights On,” by Heidi Ledford, Nature News,
November 19, 2014.
Bob Yirka, Journal shines a light on the high cost of indirect spending as part of research
grants, November 20, 2014, Nature Phys Org. doi: 10.1038/515326a. US DHHS; NIH RePORTER
database.
Fall 2009 Huron. USF Health research management strategic planning initiative
http://health.usf.edu/NR/rdonlyres/DD2077A8-9D5B-4ED7-B881-DB314617F9B0/35765/US
Huron Consulting, USF Research Operational Structure Review (Executive Summary, June 2015)
http://www.research.usf.edu/pdf/usf-final-report-executive-summary-05.28.2015-v1.2.pdf
RASPerS, Research Administration Salaries in 2011 published in NCURA Magazine.
http://moderas.org/sites/default/files/MayJune2011.pdf
Rock Talk, Sally Rockey, September 2015, All About Indirect Costs
https://nexus.od.nih.gov/all/2015/09/11/all-about-indirect-costs/
Growing the Strength of Research Support
The Certified Research Administrator (CRA) designation is granted in the U.S.A.
by the Research Administrators Certification Council to individuals who
demonstrate the knowledge necessary to serve as an administrator of
professional and sponsored research programs.
The research enterprise is riddled with compliance hurdles,
aimed to ensure responsible spending and transparent results of
research finding. Research administrators are increasingly
‘Guardians of Grantsmanship’ – and this call to arms answered by
the evolving workforce of grant experts.
Masters and Doctoral level grant writers are adding value to the evolving
research administration workforce. Adding disciplinary science expertise
to your team enhances the caliber of support, and propels grant
productivity as it diminishes the faculty’s administrative burden.
Research Administrators will posses these qualities:
o Some grant writing experience, (e.g. graduate school or research lab).
o Scientific training or clinical experience, specific on the grant
environment.
o The ability to write persuasively and cogently for compelling proposals,
and strong accounting skills for managing research funding portfolio.
o A demonstrated ability to navigate the bureaucratic layers of the your
institution with diplomacy.
o An appropriate level of expertise in technology, tech transfer and
intellectual property as it translates to data management, transformative
science, and research compliance.
Award Close-out and
Final Reporting
Manage Award and
Sub-awards
Receive Award and
Establish Project
Develop and Submit
Proposal
Identify
Funding that
Fits
Compliance hurdles
Supporting docs
Forms | Tables
Budgets
Letters of support
Videos | Pitch
Upload, Submit
Monitor Spending
Burn Rate Reporting
Cash Management
Reports to Sponsor
Sub-award reports
Tick Tock – pending
report will stop cycle
of funding
Set up funding (based on
award, not proposal) for
travel, hiring, purchasing, sub-
awards, etc.
Creative grants for a
diverse funding
portfolio (Federal,
Foundations, Crowd-
funding, Industry)
Focus on Compliance
Clinical, IRB, IACUC, RCR Tech
Transfer, Lab Safety, Data
Management Plans,
Intellectual Property …
Publish, Present Findings, Prep
for next Funding Opportunity
If it costs more today than it did 25 years ago to support
research, why is the administrative cap still 26 percent?
The complexity of research administration requires knowledgeable,
highly adaptive, and skilled professionals who have expertise in
an ever expanding variety of areas characterized today by evolving
regulatory requirements and a need for managed risk. Success in
this knowledge driven economy depends on organized and
effective collaborative teams to remain competitive.
25 years ago it was determined that the cost for admin. support
of a grant was 26%. Today, increased compliance and reporting
makes this way too low. Change is needed now.
A sustainable research model is flexible to the changing
needs of the institution. a priority investment to expand and
enhance infrastructure, which translates to highly trained,
effective, and motivated workforce.
Nature compared the negotiated rates (provided by DHHS) of
actual awards to more than 600 hospitals, non-profit research
institutions, and universities (see ‘Overheads Under the
Microscope’), illustrating the gap between “Negotiated Rate”
and “Calculated (recovered) Rate”.
Research Administration, as a field, continues
to expand as securing new funding is ever-
more competitive, and sponsors require more
oversight.
Global
Transparent
Impactful
Research