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PIPER Section 4: Portfolio Administration

Last Updated: September 17, 2026 3:59:53 PM PDT
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Learn about the Portfolio Administration section of PIPER, UCSD's research portfolio management tool, including what each page does and how Fund Managers (FMs) can use them to configure and maintain Principal Investigator (PI) portfolio settings.

Portfolio Administration is the setup and configuration section of PIPER. It allows FMs to control how data is displayed across PI-facing reports, manage project and task attributes that drive calculations, and create placeholder projects for pending funding. Changes made in this section directly affect what PIs and FMs see throughout the rest of PIPER.

The Portfolio Administration section of PIPER is comprised of four pages:

  • 4.01 Fund Manager Assignment — A read-only view of FM–to–PI assignments as they exist in Oracle, used to verify that portfolio assignments are accurate.
  • 4.02 Setup/Manage Custom Project Grouping — A configuration page for creating and organizing custom categories that control how a PI's portfolio is grouped in PI-facing reports.
  • 4.03 Manage Project-Task Attributes — A page for viewing and updating key Project and Task attributes that affect calculations, display names, and which tasks appear in PI-facing reports.
  • 4.04 Setup/Manage Placeholder Projects — A tool for creating temporary projects in PIPER for funding that has been committed but not yet set up in Oracle.

4.01 Fund Manager Assignment

A read-only view of the FM–to–PI portfolio assignments as they exist in Oracle. It shows each FM's assigned PIs along with the number of Projects and Tasks associated with each.

  • Displays all PIs assigned to a FM based on Oracle Project Personnel Roles, along with a count of associated Projects and Tasks.
  • Used to verify that Fund Manager assignments are accurate. Changes to assignments must be made in the Project & Award Data Update Application (PADUA), not in PIPER.

For PIs: Your FM uses this page to confirm they are correctly assigned to your portfolio in Oracle.

4.02 Setup/Manage Custom Project Grouping

A configuration page that allows FMs to create and manage custom categories for organizing a PI's portfolio in PIPER. Categories and their display order appear on 1.01 Portfolio Summary and 1.02 PI Runway Analysis.

  • Allows Fund Managers to create, rename, reorder, and delete custom categories, and assign Tasks to those categories based on PI preference.
  • Common uses include labeling and reordering by fund type, managing department, or organizing funds that are pending closure in Oracle.

For PIs: Your FM uses this page to organize how your funds are grouped and labeled in your PIPER reports. If you have a preference for how your portfolio is organized, share that with your FM.

4.03 Manage Project-Task Attributes

A configuration page that allows FMs to view and update key attributes for Projects and Tasks that control how data flows through PIPER. Changes made here can affect calculations, display names, and which tasks appear in PI-facing reports.

  • Card A (Manage Project Attributes) allows FMs to set On/Off Campus selection, which affects IDC forecasting.
  • Card B (Manage Task Attributes) allows FMs to assign custom Task nicknames, exclude Tasks from 1.02 PI Runway Analysis, and override the Task end date used for forecasting purposes.

For PIs: Settings on this page control how your tasks are named and calculated throughout PIPER, including which tasks appear in your runway forecast. If something looks incorrect in your reports — such as a missing task or an unexpected end date — your FM can review and adjust these attributes.

4.04 Setup/Manage Placeholder Projects

A tool for creating temporary projects in PIPER for funding that has been committed but not yet set up in Oracle. Placeholder projects appear in PI-facing reports alongside active Oracle-sourced projects and can be mapped to a real Oracle project once the chartstring is established.

  • Allows FMs to create placeholder projects with key attributes (Financial Unit, IDC rate, Project Manager, start/end dates) for use in scenario planning and runway forecasting while awaiting Oracle setup.
  • Placeholder projects can be linked to real Oracle projects once funding is received, and can include revenue and cost forecasts entered through 3.01 Payroll Forecast, 3.02 Non-Payroll Forecast, and 3.03 Payroll Cost Transfers.

For Researchers: Your FM can create placeholder projects in PIPER for funding you are expecting but that has not yet been set up in Oracle. This allows you to begin scenario planning for anticipated awards or gifts before the chartstring is available.

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