Research Administration Services

Our Pre-award team ensures smooth proposal submissions by providing comprehensive support to principal investigators (PI)  who are Bouvé faculty and grad students.

We work with:

• All external grant sponsors including federal agencies
• Foundations and non-profit agencies
• Community services
• Clinical and medical centers performing clinical research trials

Services include:

• FOA reviews
• Checklist preparation
• Electronic application handling
• Budgeting
• Documentation
• And cost share, among other services

We secure internal approvals, liaise with subaward institutions, and offer expert assistance with biographical sketches, other support pages, federal and foundation proposals, and Just-in-Time (JIT) requests.

Rigorous compliance checks against institutional policies and sponsor requirements are conducted before grant proposals are submitted to Northeastern University Research Enterprise Services (NU-RES), with BCORe serving as a primary liaison.

Post-award support provides:

• Timely routine and ad hoc reports to PI’s
• Efficient grant funding management
• Data, non-disclosure, and material use agreements
• Payroll distribution adjustments as needed

We handle cost transfer requests, monitor grant effort, and ensure compliance with internal and external regulations.

As the primary liaison with NU-RES, we review sponsor financial reports, oversee projects from award to closeout, including invoice monitoring, journal vouchers, course buyout, and summer salary/extra comp.

Annual progress, no-cost extensions, and final reports are facilitated proactively, adhering to cleanup procedures according to institutional policy.

Our data management efforts maintain transaction activity logs and award documentation while fostering collaboration with principal investigators, administration, and sponsors to deliver exceptional customer service and resolve project-related complexities.

What we do

“Set of activities designed to facilitate individual faculty members, teams of researchers, and central research administrations in attracting extramural research funding, creating relationships, and developing and implementing strategies that increase institutional competitiveness.“

— Levin 2011, The Chronicle of Higher Education

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The Research Development (RD) team assists Bouvé faculty in identifying suitable funding opportunities, including internal (TIER) funding, and offers workshops and training materials for competitive research proposals.

Research Development provides Early Career Support to faculty through a number of initiatives including:

• New faculty meetings to discuss research goals and other potential resources/collaborators
• Facilitating community research partnerships
• Training sessions and coordinated review process for CAREER awards
• K-Club for faculty working on NIH K awards

RD also manages limited submission funding opportunities with in-house review and approval with the Sr. Vice Provost for Research.

Research Development Overview

01. Strategic Research Advancement

02. Research Opportunity Communications

03. Team Building — Strengthening Collaborations

04. Proposal Development

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Research and Development’s Role
in the Research Lifecycle

	Find Funding	Develop Proposal	Route for Review and Submission	Agreement Review	Set Up Project	Manage Project	Close Out Project
Researcher	✔	✔		✔		✔	✔
Research Development Includes gov’t affairs, corp’ns and found’ns	✔	✔
Pre-Award College Grant Administrator		✔	✔
NU Pre-Award NU-RES Grant Officer			✔
Post-Award College Financial Analyst					✔	✔	✔
NU Post-Award NU RES Grant Officer				✔	✔	✔
NU Post-Award Research Finance					✔	✔	✔

Use Case and Other Specifics of RD Support

Strategic Research Advancement:

• Early Career Support: curation and targeted dissemination of early career opportunities
• • New faculty meetings to discuss research goals and introduce RD, Advancement and other potential resources/collaborators
  • Runway to Broader Impacts – facilitating community research partnerships
  • NSF CAREER Awards: Training sessions and coordinated review process for submissions
  • NIH K Awards: Establishing K-Club for eligible faculty

• Faculty Training & Events
  • Research Development runs Faculty training and other informational events throughout the year.
  • Recent Workshops
    • Funding for Commercialization
    • Introduction to NSF 101
    • Runway to Broader Impacts Peer Learning Groups
    • Training Grants Workshop
    • Equipment Grants Workshop
    • Center Grants Workshop
  • Recent Workshops
    • Funding for Commercialization
    • Introduction to NSF 101
    • Runway to Broader Impacts Peer Learning Groups
    • Training Grants Workshop
    • Equipment Grants Workshop
    • Center Grants Workshop

• Research Opportunity and Communications
  • Finding External Funding
    • We identify and curate funding opportunities and share via targeted emails to researchers
    • Pivot database of funding opportunities Pivot-RP (proquest.com)
    • Academic Analytics Faculty Insight for funding opportunities and potential collaborators Faculty Insight (academicanalytics.com)
    • Additional Resources include Foundation Directory Online & Philanthropy News Digest email alerts

• Limited Submissions
  • When an opportunity is “limited” it means the sponsor places a limit on the number of proposals each institution may submit.
  • Research Development administers the limited submissions review and approval process for the Sr. Vice Provost for Research.
  • Research Development works with applicants to help them craft the strongest proposal possible.
  • If you become aware of a funding opportunity with limited submission requirements that is not listed, contact us at: [email protected].
  • Visit our internal database to review Limited Submission funding opportunities and Limited Submissions Funding Announcements Archive.

• Team Building | Enhancement of Collaborations
  • We facilitate Team Science
    • Build topical teams, Convene research workshops with industry and government partners (e.g., MITRE, USARIEM, PNNL, etc.), Promote collaboration with extramural partners (e.g., WHOI, UMaine, UMass), Participate in working groups, Advise faculty about collaboration opportunities
  • Internal Funding
    • TIER 1 Award Program
    • TIER 2 Award Program
    • TIER 3 Award Program
    • Impact Engines:
      • Key pillar of Northeastern’s Academic Plan
    • • Positions Northeastern as a leader in research with broad societal impact
    • • Fosters interdisciplinary learning, research, and partnerships to address challenges with the goal of maximum impact
    • • Spans and connects diverse disciplines, colleges, campuses, industry sectors, and communities around problem-solving
      • Learn more about Northeastern’s Impact Engines.

• Proposal Development
  • Internal review, editing, and/or project management, Advise faculty to prepare for meetings with program officers, Coordinate with Research Admin professionals to support teams in developing budgets, tracking and developing all supplemental documents and required letters, etc., Develop guides and boilerplate draft documents that faculty can download, edit, and use in proposals
  • Large Proposal Development:
    • For Large, Complex, and Highly Visible Proposals:
      • Convene faculty around major submission opportunities, both current and anticipated
      • Organize an internal kickoff meeting to discuss administrative support (Timeline, FOA “shreds”, etc.)
      • Facilitate team organization and meetings
      • Advise on internal TIER program support
      • Coordinate with broader university and college resources
      • Write, review, and edit sections of the proposal, as needed

The Biostatistics Research Center can enhance your research capabilities and address critical biostatistical and analytical needs of any research project by collaborating with faculty, staff, and students.

Statistical Consulting Services

For health-related research, the Biostats Center provides valuable statistical consulting services, supporting NU investigators with a wide range of offerings including: 

• Study Design and Statistical Planning
• Statistical Analysis Plan for grant submission/IRB approval
• Samples Size Calculation/Power Analysis
• Data Visualization
• Manuscript writing and results interpretation
• Education and Training