Research Administration Glossary
Find a list of glossary terms for Research Administration.
Visit the Data Glossary to learn terms for financial reports and analytics.
| Term | Definition | Resources |
|---|---|---|
| Activity Type |
This describe the kind of investigation and research that will be conducted under an award. This can include any of the below options: Clinical Research Instruction and Training Intergovernmental Personnel Agreement Other Sponsored Activities |
Kuali Research Proposal and Activity Types |
| Administrative Supplement |
A request for (or the award of) additional funds during a current project period to provide for an increase in costs due to unforeseen circumstances. All additional costs must be within the scope of the peer reviewed and approved project. |
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| Allowable Cost |
An allowable cost is a cost that can be paid by your contract or grant. Allowable costs pertain to costs associated with developing a proposal, recording in the University accounting system, or reporting on a financial report. UCSD considers a cost to be allowable when it meets the following criteria based on Uniform Guidance (UG): The cost is reasonable; it reflects what a prudent person might pay.
The accounting treatment of the cost is consistent across the campus. |
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| Animal Subject | Any live, vertebrate animal used or intended for use in research, research training, experimentation, biological testing, or for related purposes. In order to use animals in research a protocol one must receive Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) approval and be determined to be congruent with the sponsored project proposal prior to beginning the research. |
Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) Office
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| Animal Welfare Assurance (Commonly referred to as the "Assurance") Number | Animal Welfare Assurance Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare (OLAW) Number: D16-00020 | UCSD Institutional Information and Codes |
| Application Guides (NIH) | Application instructions and guidance in the funding opportunity to submit grant applications to National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration, and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. | How to Apply - Application Guide | grants.nih.gov |
| Applied Research | Research which consists of the effort which, (1) normally follows basic research, (2) attempts to determine and expand the potentiality of new scientific/improvements in technology, materials, processes, methods, devices, and techniques, and (3) attempts to "advance the state of the art." | |
| Appointment Type |
Most proposal submissions require that effort in a proposal budget must be in the form of person months. In order to properly identify the number of person months the type of appointment must be determined first. Calendar Months (12-month appointment) Academic Months (9-month appointment) Summer Months |
Conversion Table |
| ASSIST | Application Submission System & Interface for Submission Tracking (ASSIST) system used to prepare and submit grant applications electronically to NIH and other Public Health Service agencies. ASSIST supports all NIH competing applications, including single-project applications (e.g., R01) and multi-project applications (e.g., P01). |
Application Submission System & Interface for Submission Tracking (ASSIST) User Guide (nih.gov) |
| Assistance Listing Number | A unique number assigned to identify a Federal Assistance Listing, formerly known as the CFDA number. | |
| Authorized Organizational Representative (AOR) | The individual, named by the applicant organization, who is authorized to act for the applicant and to assume the obligations imposed by the Federal laws, regulations, requirements, and conditions that apply to grant applications or grant awards. This individual is equivalent to the signing official in the eRA Commons, i.e., holds the Signing Official (SO) Role. | |
| Award | A grant, contract, or other arrangement that provides funding from an external entity to a university or other organization for a specific purpose. | |
| Awarding Institute or Center (IC) | NIH IC is an organizational component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) that is responsible for the award, administration, and monitoring of grant-supported activities. | List of Institutes and Centers | National Institutes of Health (NIH) |
| Business Associate Agreement (BAA) | Business Associate Agreement | |
| Basic Research | Research which is directed toward increase of knowledge in science wherein the primary aim of the investigator is fuller knowledge or understanding of the subject under study, rather than a clear or direct practical application thereof. | Kuali Research Proposal and Activity Types |
| Basic Research (Marine Physical Lab) | Basic research conducted by Scripps Institution of Oceanography ship and ship technician use. | Kuali Research Proposal and Activity Types |
| Biosketch | A résumé for each key personnel named on the proposal. Typically includes information about their background, education, academic achievements, awards, grants received, professional interests, research capabilities and publications. | Biosketch Format Pages, Instructions and Samples (NIH) Documents Required for Senior Personnel - Funding at NSF | NSF - National Science Foundation |
| Blink | An online source of information, training and tools for UC San Diego faculty and staff. Blink's primary focus is to provide information on business processes, but more personal items, from benefits and child care to recreation and events are also highlighted. | Blink: Information for UC San Diego Faculty & Staff (ucsd.edu) |
| Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) |
A type of funding opportunity announcement. Specifically, a BAA is a competitive solicitation procedure used by federal agencies to obtain proposals for basic and applied research and that part of development not related to the development of a specific system or hardware procurement. Contracts awarded under these general solicitations meet the “full and open” competition requirements. See “Funding Opportunity Announcement” |
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| Budget | A reasonable estimate of expenses necessary to conduct the project. This is typically accompanied by a budget justification. | Preparing Proposals Direct Costs Indirect Costs Cost Sharing Budget Forms |
| Budget Period | The intervals of time (usually 12-months each) into which a project period is divided for budgetary and funding purposes. | |
| Business Analytics Hub (BAH) | BAH houses a centralized list of analytics and reports that use data from one or more Activity Hubs or created from sources such as Oracle Financials Cloud and UCPath, among others. On BAH, find analytics and reports listed by area, request access to view the data, suggest new or enhanced analytics reports and submit questions. Recommended browsers for BAH and posted reporting solutions are Chrome and Firefox. | Business Analytics Hub |
| Changed/Corrected Application | When submitting a proposal to a federal agency and using the SF 424 package, the PI is required to inform the sponsor if the proposal submission is to change or correct a previously submitted proposal. If it is, the box indicating “Changed/Corrected Application” must be checked. | |
| Clinical Research | Research involving human subjects and/or materials and/or information collected from human subjects. This also includes the controlled clinical testing in human subjects of investigational new drugs, devices, treatment, diagnostics, or comparisons of approved drugs, devices, treatments or diagnostics to assess their safety, efficacy, benefits, costs, adverse reactions and/or outcomes. Such studies may be conducted under an industry-developed protocol or an investigator-developed protocol. Industry-initiated and funded clinical trials are handled by OCTA whereas PI-initiated clinical trials are handled by the Sponsored Projects Office (SPO). For more detailed information regarding clinical trials, please visit PI-Initiated vs. Industry-Initiated Clinical Trials on Blink. |
Kuali Research Proposal and Activity Types |
| Clinical Trial |
UC Definition: The controlled, clinical testing in human subjects of investigational new drugs, devices, treatments, or diagnostics, or comparisons of approved drugs, devices, treatments, or diagnostics, to assess their safety, efficacy, benefits, costs, adverse reactions, and/or outcomes. Such studies may be conducted under an industry-developed protocol or an investigator-developed protocol. This clinical trial definition is used for calculating indirect cost (IDC) Rate for industry-funded Clinical Trials. Refer to a detailed breakdown of this definition here: UC Definition of a Clinical Trial National Institutes of Health (NIH) Definition: A research study in which one or more human subjects are prospectively assigned to one or more interventions (which may include placebo or other control) to evaluate the effects of those interventions on health-related biomedical or behavioral outcomes. Refer to a detailed breakdown of this definition on the NIH's Definition of a Clinical Trial webpage. |
PI-Initiated vs. Industry-Initiated Clinical Trials |
| Clinical Trial Phases |
Biomedical clinical trials of an experimental drug, treatment, device, of or behavioral intervention may proceed through four phases: |
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| Clinicaltrials.gov |
ClinicalTrials.gov is a registry and results database of publicly and privately supported clinical studies of human participants conducted around the world. |
Clinicaltrials.gov |
| Co-Investigator (Co-I) | This is other faculty funded to provide research activities; may be from other departments. | |
| Co-Principal Investigator (Co-PI) | This is a Senior Key Personnel who is the secondary lead on a proposal. For NIH proposals, use Multi-PI instead. | |
| Compliance | This is the process of the ensuring that research is conducted in a legal and ethical manner. This includes human subjects, animal welfare, bio-safety, conflict of interest (COI) and audits. | |
| Composite Benefit Rates (CBR) | Composite benefit rates are developed in order to cover the costs of fringe benefits offered by the university. The Composite Fringe Benefit (CBR) rate is an average of all eligible benefits applicable to an employee group. Each group is based on individual employee attributes which fall into a certain group. The composite fringe benefit rate is a percentage of the employee’s gross salary based on which employee group they fall into. With CBRs, individual employee fringe benefits are assessed using one of the nine possible rates. Composite Benefit rates decrease the administrative burden to budget and manage sponsored awards and decrease the risk of under-recovering funds. CBRs are approved by our Cognizant Agency, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Projected rates are estimates for planning purposes only (e.g., multi-year budgeting, contract and grant proposal submissions) and are subject to change. If future approved composite benefit rates are higher or lower than the projected rates budgeted at the proposal stage, PIs will need to re-budget accordingly. |
Composite Benefit Rates |
| Confidential Disclosure Agreement (CDA) | An agreement to cover conversations that contain confidential and/or proprietary information from one or both parties and the terms control the disclosure, receipt, and use of the confidential or proprietary information. | Unfunded Research Agreements |
| Conflict of Commitment (COC) | Conflict of Commitment (COC) as known as Outside Professional Activities is a conflict of commitment occurs when the commitment to external activities, whether professional or non-professional, compensated or uncompensated, interferes with the successful performance of the faculty member's University obligations. | COC: Conflict of Commitment |
| Conflict of Interest (COI) | The Conflict of Interest (COI) Office is one of the four core offices of the Research Compliance and Integrity Program in Research Affairs, along with Export Control, Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC), and Research Misconduct. | COI: Conflict of Interest |
| Congressional District |
Congressional districts are the 435 areas from which members are elected to the U.S. House of Representative. Below are the congressional distrcts for UCSD: UC San Diego main campus: CA050UCSD Medical Center in Hillcrest: CA050 Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO): CA050 |
UCSD Preparing Proposals Institutional Information |
| Contact PD/PI | This is a Program Director (PD) or Principal Investigator (PI) who serves as a primary point of contact on a research project. The Contact PD/PI must meet all eligibility requirements for PD/PI status. | |
| Continuation | A non-competitive proposal for the next funding increment of a current project usually submitted annually, if required by the agency | Kuali Research Proposal and Activity Types |
| Contract | An agreement with terms. A mechanism used for the procurement of a product or service with the primary benefit to the sponsor. A contract contains specific obligations on the part of both the sponsor and the university, including specific deliverables or milestones. The research goal often originates from the sponsor with the scope of work and budget negotiated between the sponsor and University. A contract is the most restrictive funding mechanism with most changes requiring renegotiation and a formal contract modification. Agency personnel will interact frequently with the PI and University staff about the progress of the research and expenditure of the funds. | Contracts |
| Contracts and Grants Officer (CGO) | A person who works in one of the UCSD Sponsored Projects Offices (SPOs) It is the same as Sponsored Projects Officer. | |
| Cooperative Agreement | Like a grant, but the sponsor’s staff may be actively involved in the design and conduct of the research activities. | Cooperative Agreements |
| Co-PI | Co-Principal Investigator. Senior Key Personnel who is the secondary lead on a proposal. For NIH proposals, use Multi-PI instead. | |
| Council On Government Relations (COGR) | COGR is an association of leading research universities, affiliated medical centers, and independent research institutes. We are the national authorities on the financial and regulatory infrastructure, and the corresponding compliance requirements associated with managing federal research grants and contracts within research institutions. COGR provides information, analyses, advice, policy perspective, and historical context to our members in the areas of research administration and compliance, financial oversight, and intellectual property. COGR communicates the viewpoint and concerns of its members and fosters productive relationships between the research community and federal policymakers, advocating for innovation and change that avoid unnecessary regulatory burden. | COGR |
| Cover Sheet | The first page of the package that includes details such as the title of the project, name of sponsor, name of PI, name of applicant organization, etc. | General Proposal Forms |
| Current and Pending and/or Other Support document | This document lists the PI’s current and pending grants. It shows the sponsor a PI’s effort in each grant and whether any of their current research overlaps with the proposed project. | NIH Other Support |
| Curriculum Vitae (C.V.) | A résumé for each key personnel named on the proposal. Typically includes information about their background, education, academic achievements, awards, grants received, professional interests, research capabilities and publications. | |
| Data Use Agreement (DUA) |
A Data Use/Transfer Agreement (DUA/DTA) allows one or more party(ies) to provide access to, or transfer of, data to or from a UCSD principal investigator for research purposes. A mutual DUA can also be negotiated to allow UCSD and the other party(ies) to exchange data. The DUA will provide appropriate protection of the data from unauthorized disclosure or use, or under applicable laws (such as HIPAA for human subjects’ data), while still ensuring UCSD’s ability to publish its research results or to share them for academic purposes. Data use terms may also be included within a larger agreement context, such as a sponsored or collaborative research agreement, so a DUA is commonly negotiated for “standalone” projects where the primary focus is the data itself. |
Data Use/Data Transfer Agreements (DUA/DTA) |
| Department of Defense (DoD) |
The United States Department of Defense (DoD) is an executive branch department of the federal government of the United States charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the U.S. government directly related to national security and the United States Armed Forces. DoD is a federal government agency that commonly sponsors research at UCSD. |
DoD Basic Research Office – Department of Defense
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| Department of Energy (DOE) |
The United States Department of Energy (DOE) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government that oversees U.S. national energy policy and energy production, the research and development of nuclear power, the military's nuclear weapons program, nuclear reactor production for the United States Navy, energy-related research, and energy conservation. DOE is a federal government agency that commonly sponsors research at UCSD. |
Research Opportunities – Department of Energy
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| Developmental Research |
Research which involves the systematic use and practical application of investigative findings and theories of a scientific or technical nature toward the production of, or improvements in, useful products to meet specific performance requirements but exclusive of manufacturing and production engineering. |
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| Direct Costs (DC) |
These are costs that are specifically identifiable, and which can be charged directly to the contract or grant. This includes salaries, fringe benefits, tuition remission, consultants, equipment, supplies, travel, subawards and other expenses. |
Direct Costs - Budgets |
| eBRAP |
The Electronic Biomedical Research Application Portal (eBRAP) system is used to submit pre-applications for the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP) of the Department of Defense (DoD). |
eBRAP |
| Effort | All university work — including research, teaching, service, clinical work, and administrative duties — performed by an employee over a defined period of time is the employee's "effort." When UCSD accepts a federally sponsored project award, a legal obligation is made to certify that the effort required as a condition of the award has actually been completed. | Effort Reporting |
| Equipment | Equipment is identified as an item of non-expendable, tangible personal property, meaning it can be appraised for value, has an acquisition cost of $5,000 or more, is free-standing or can stand alone, and has a normal useful life expectancy of one year or more. Items that cost less than $5,000 are not considered equipment and belong in the Supplies and Materials category of the budget. Each equipment item should be listed individually on the budget form, and their estimated cost should also include sales tax, shipping, and assembly, if necessary. Use link under resources to see more information about fabrications, leasing, and other information. |
Equipment |
| eRA Commons | eRA Commons is an online interface where grant applicants, recipients, and federal staff at National Institutes of Health (NIH) and grantor agencies can access and share administrative information relating to research grants. | eRA Commons Login |
| Export Controls |
Export control regulations require researchers to follow strict rules about transferring certain information, technologies, or commodities internationally, either physically or electronically. These rules also apply to foreign nationals within the U.S. In some cases, exclusions and exemptions may apply. "Exports" are defined as either (1) sending or transmitting items outside of the United States, or (2) releasing or disclosing controlled items to a foreign person, which can include companies not incorporated in the U.S., foreign governments, and international organizations. Examples of export include the physical shipment of items, hand-carrying laptops or devices overseas, email transmissions, posting or downloading from FTP sites, accessing overseas servers, file-sharing with foreign colleagues, phone or fax communications, visual inspections of controlled technology by foreign persons (in the U.S. or abroad), and using controlled technology for the benefit of a foreign person or entity. Even within the U.S., if a foreign national (someone who is not a U.S. citizen or permanent resident) has access to controlled items, this may be considered an export. The export is deemed to occur once the foreign national returns to their home country. |
Export Control Office Export Control Regulations Implications of Export Controls for Research Types of Export Controlled Technology University Exceptions |
| Federal Award Identification Number (FAIN) | In federal-wide systems (e.g., USASpending.gov, FFATA/FSRS) the Federal Award Identifier Number (FAIN) is used to uniquely identify grants for federal-wide implications. The FAIN (e.g., R01 AI 654321) is a portion of the NIH grant number (e.g., 1 R01 AI 654321 -01 A1 S1) consisting of the activity code (R01) organization (institute) code to which it is assigned (AI) serial number - 6-digit number that is unique within an IC; derived from the federal ID entered on the application for resubmission, revision, and renewal applications (654321) |
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| FedConnect | FedConnect is an online marketplace where federal agencies post opportunities and create awards via the web. Any vendor can view public postings without registering. | FedConnect |
| Federal Demonstration Partnership (FDP) | The Federal Demonstration Partnership (FDP) is an association of federal agencies, research policy organizations and academic research institutions with administrative, faculty and technical representation. Overall, the FDP’s mission is to streamline the administration of federally sponsored research and create resources that are available to the research enterprise regardless of membership status. | The Federal Demonstration Partnership |
| Federal Flow Through (also known as “Subaward”, “Subcontract”, or” Subgrant”) | An award provided by a pass-through entity to a subrecipient for the subrecipient to carry out part of a federal award received by the pass-through entity. It does not include payments to a contractor or payments to an individual that is a beneficiary of a federal program. A subaward may be provided through any form of legal agreement, including an agreement that the pass-through entity considers a contract. The term includes consortium agreements. | |
| Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act (FFATA) | The Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006, as amended ("Transparency Act"), requires the Office of Management and Budget to establish a single searchable database, accessible to the public, with information on financial assistance awards made by Federal agencies. The Transparency Act also includes a requirement for recipients of Federal grants to report information about first-tier subawards and executive compensation under Federal assistance awards. See Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act. | |
| Federal Wide Assurance (FWA) Number | Human Subjects Office for Human Research Protections (OHRP) Federal-Wide Assurance Number: FWA00004495 (Expiration Date: July 17, 2029) NOTE: Due to a character limit in NIH ASSIST do not use the "FWA" prefix when entering the assurance number |
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| Federal Financial Report (FFR) | The Federal Financial Report (SF425) is a single form consolidating the collection of financial information previously collected on the Cash Transaction Report (SF 272 and the Financial Status Report (SF269). NIH grantees now required to submit all required expenditure reports using the FFR. Further all FFR expenditure reports must be submitted to NIH electronically through the eRA Commons. | Federal Financial Report (FFR) |
| Fellowship | An agreement which is: (a) merit based (in response to a competitive application); (b) awarded to a specific individual; (c) mentored; and (d) intended to enhance an individual’s potential to develop into an independent researcher/scholar. | Fellowships Research Knowledge Base - NIH F31 Application Guide (ucsd.edu) Research Knowledge Base - NIH F31 Budget Guide for Predoctoral Applicants (ucsd.edu) |
| Foundation and Research Relations | Foundation and Research Relations are campus partners in securing corporate and foundation support and assist with proposal development, consultation in developing a strategy, or with any questions. | Corporate and Foundation Relations |
| Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) | Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOA) are now called Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) based on Uniform Guidance. | RA Essentials Job Aid - How to Read a Solicitation |
| Gift | A contribution that is donative in intent, given voluntarily and without expectation of consideration. | Gifts vs. Sponsored Awards |
| Government Sponsor | This means any agency of department of the federal, state, or local government that sponsors research. | Different Sponsor Types |
| Graduate Student Researcher (GSR) | A registered UCSD graduate student who performs research under the direction of a faculty member; The research may or may not correspond to the student’s thesis research; Polices managed by the The Division of Graduate Education and Postdoctoral Affairs (GEPA). | Graduate Student Pay Rates at UC San Diego Graduate Student Support Eligibility |
| Grant | A form of financial assistance awarded to conduct research or other programs that is specified in an approved proposal or statement of work. | Grants |
| Grants.gov | Grants.gov is an E-Government initiative operating under the governance of the Office of Management and Budget. Under the President's Management Agenda, the office was chartered to deliver a system that provides a centralized location for grant seekers to find and apply for federal funding opportunities. | Grants.Gov |
| Health Sciences Technology Services Charge (HS-TSC) | Health Sciences Communications issued a notice on May 9, 2017, about the Health Sciences Technology Services Charge (HS-TSC) applicable to sponsored research contracts and grants. This charge is for services to ensure a higher level of security protection for Health Sciences personnel who are clinically integrated with HIPPA data. |
Health Sciences Technology Services Charge (HS-TSC) UCSD |
| Indirect Costs (IDC) | Indirect Costs (IDC) also referred to as Facilities and Administration, F&A, overhead, or burdencosts are not specifically identifiable to any one project. IDC covers activities such as building use, equipment depreciation, operation and maintenance of UC San Diego facilities, student services, departmental administration, or administrative support offices. On a project-by-project basis, UC San Diego applies an indirect cost rate to a budget to ensure that the full costs of a project are recovered. |
Indirect Costs (IDC) |
| Indirect Cost (IDC) Exception | An indirect cost exception is the official authorization to accept indirect cost recovery other than what would be recovered under the appropriate federally-negotiated rate agreement or UC Rate for a given award. This must be obtained from UC Office of the President (UCOP) or the UCSD Chancellor's authorized delegate when the project does not use the standard applicable IDC rate. | Indirect Cost Exceptions |
| Indirect Cost (IDC) Waiver | This is used when not using the standard negotiated Federal IDC rate. Always make sure that you are using the current rate as it can change every year. | |
| Institutional Information | Find vital UCSD Institutional Information and codes for filling out proposal submission and other agreement forms. | Institutional Information |
| Instruction and Training | Projects that involve the scholarly, professional, or occupational instruction for matriculated students or University employees in forms such as classes, seminars, workshops, conferences, etc. This also includes agency sponsorship of students or employees who are "in training" primarily, but not exclusively, at the graduate and postgraduate levels. | Kuali Research Proposal and Activity Types |
| Intergovernmental Personnel Agreement (IPA) | An Intergovernmental Personnel Act agreement (IPA) is an agreement with a U.S. Federal Government agency which allows the temporary assignment of university faculty into roles at those agencies. | Interpersonnel Agreement (IPA) |
| Internal Deadline | This is when the proposal is due to the UCSD Sponsored Projects Office (SPO) for review. There is no official submit-by date. Note: when creating a Kuali Research (KR) proposal, an internal deadline is required. | |
| Just-In-Time (JIT) |
NIH policy allows the submission of certain elements of a competing application to be deferred until later in the application process, after review when the application is under consideration for funding. Within the Status module of the eRA Commons, users will find a feature to submit Just-In-Time information when requested by the NIH. Through this module, institutions can electronically submit the information that is requested after the review, but before award. Applicants will be notified (primarily by e-mail) when Just-in-Time information is needed. This notification is not a Notice of Award nor should it be construed to be an indicator of possible funding. Just having the JIT button go live in eRA Commons is not a call to submit JIT. Applicants should only submit this information when requested via email. Information must be submitted electronically using the Just-in-Time feature in the eRA Commons. |
NIH Just-in-Time (JIT) |
| Kuali Research | Kuali Research (KR) is a contracts and grants software platform that is designed for use throughout the project’s lifecycle. KR replaced the previous contract and grant system to fully support the research administration needs by redesigning business processes to streamline and develop institutional best practices. Within Kuali, there are other modules including Conflict of Interest (COI), Award, and Subawards. | |
| Lab Service Agreement (LSA) | Pre-clinical activity involving non-human clinical observation such as performing assays, gathering data, and testing proprietary substances in a controlled setting. The results are provided to the sponsor. |
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| Letter of Intent/Pre-Application | A letter of intent (LOI) (sometimes also called a white paper, letter proposal, pre-application, or concept paper) is a short description of the proposed project. The purpose of an LOI is to introduce the proposed project to the potential sponsor and to elicit feedback that will hopefully lead to an invitation to submit a full proposal application. | |
| Mandatory Cost Sharing | Cost sharing represents that portion of the total project costs (direct and/or indirect) of a sponsored agreement borne by the university, rather than by the sponsor. Mandatory cost sharing is when cost sharing is required by agency policy or award terms and conditions. | |
| Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) | An agreement between two or more parties that functions as a more formal alternative to a verbal or “handshake” agreement. | Unfunded Agreements MOU |
| Material Transfer Agreement (MTA) | A legal contract that establishes terms, conditions, and a record of a transfer of tangible research materials between the owner and a recipient for research purposes. Required for material coming into and going out of UCSD. | Unfunded Agreements MTA |
| Modified Total Direct Costs (MTDC) | The indirect cost base to which UCSD's federally-negotiated IDC/F&A rates are applied. Includes: direct salaries, wages, applicable fringe benefits, materials and supplies, services, travel and the first $25,000 of each subaward. Excludes: equipment, capital expenditures, tuition remission, rental costs, scholarships, fellowships, patient care costs, amount of each subaward over $25,000. | Modified Total Direct Costs |
| Multi-Campus Award | An agreement between two UC campuses when more than one campus will be engaging in a sponsored project. An MCA is a formal agreement between one UC campus and another to delineate roles in the research program, where the overall project is funded by an external sponsor. This is processed as a type of subaward, even though legally the two UC campuses are a single entity. | Multi Campus Agreement |
| Multi-PI (NIH) | This is the same as a Co-PI and is only used on NIH proposals. There is no option for this in Kuali. To name a Multi-PI, select “key personnel” and then add “multi-PI” in the description section. | |
| National Council of University Research Administrators (NCURA) |
The National Council of University Research Administrators (NCURA), founded in 1959, is a non-profit professional society dedicated to advancing the profession of research administration through education and professional development programs, the sharing of knowledge and experiences, and the fostering of a diverse, collegial, and respected global community. | NCURA |
| National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) | NASA an independent agency of the U.S. federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA is a federal government agency that commonly sponsors research at UCSD. | NASA Grants and Cooperative Agreements Guidance |
| Non-disclosure Agreement (NDA) | An agreement to cover conversations that contain confidential and/or proprietary information from one or both parties and the terms control the disclosure, receipt, and use of the confidential or proprietary information. | Unfunded Agreements-NDA |
| New | A competitive proposal for support of a project that is being submitted for funding the first time. | Kuali Research Proposal and Activity Types |
| Next Generation Network (NGN) | A flat monthly charge, referred to as the Next Generation Network (NGN), supports enhanced data and voice network services provided under NGN3. This charge is levied automatically for each campus employee who qualifies as a Communication User as determined by the employee's payroll title code. Costs associated with the NGN fee are not included in the calculation of UCSD’s negotiated indirect cost rate. For more information and NGN Communication User Rates see the Next Generation Network (NGN) Blink page. | Next Generation Network (NGN) |
| National Institutes of Health (NIH) | NIH is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. NIH is a federal government agency that commonly sponsors research at UCSD. |
Post-Award Monitoring and Reporting |
| Notice of Funding (Opportunity)NOF(O) | (NOFO) is a document that provides instructions for applying for a grant or project. | RA Essentials Job Aid - How to Read a Solicitation |
| Non-Federal Sponsor | This includes nonprofit organizations, industry (for-profit), institutions of higher learning, foreign agencies, and other UC Campuses | |
| National Science Foundation (NSF) | NSF is an independent agency of the United States federal government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. NSF is a federal government agency that commonly sponsors research at UCSD. | NSF |
| National Science Foundation Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (NSF PAPPG) | These are the policies that govern NSF proposals and awards. | |
| Office of Clinical Trials (OCTA) | The mission of the Office of Clinical Trials Administration (OCTA) is to support industry sponsored clinical research at UCSD through comprehensive and compliant contracting. | Office of Clinical Trials (OCTA) |
| Office of Coverage Analysis Administration (OCAA) |
OCAA provides comprehensive coverage analysis and budgeting services for researchers and administrators to enhance their ability to achieve excellence in clinical research while adhering to University, Federal, and State guidelines to ensure billing compliance. A coverage analysis (CA) identifies the financial accountability for each item or service in a clinical trial. It is an in-depth review of clinical trial documents, National Coverage Determinations (NCDs), Local Coverage Determinations (LCDs), and published practice guidelines to determine the Medicare billing status of items and services that are documented in the research protocol. As a result, services will be appropriately billed to a third-party payor (e.g., Medicare, private insurance, or the patient), the trial sponsor, the study grant or other funding source. **All studies involving human research subjects require a review for coverage analysis. A CA is required to use Medical Center resources and facilities. There are some scenarios where a CA is not required, such as studies only reviewing medical records. |
Office of Coverage Analysis Administration (OCAA) |
| Oracle Financial Cloud (OFC) | UCSD’s eProcurement site that replaced Marketplace. | Oracle Financials Cloud (OFC) |
| Other Sponsored Activities | This Activity Type should only be used if a research project cannot be classified as basic, applied, developmental, or clinical research. | Kuali Research Proposal and Activity Types |
| Program Announcement (PA) | PA is a form of funding opportunity. | RA Essentials Job Aid - How to Read a Solicitation |
| Proposal Analysis and Management System (PAMS) | PAMS is an award management site for grants, cooperative agreements, and interagency awards funded by the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science. | |
| Personnel Agreement | A payment mechanism to maintain the employment status and pay of a UCSD employee who is working on a project on behalf of another institution or agency. | |
| Principal Investigator (PI) | The lead researcher will personally direct the research effort or project and/or will personally oversee the program. There is only one “lead” or “contact” PI on a proposal. | |
| Principal Investigator (PI) Certification | This provides the assurances necessary to acknowledge federal, state and UC-required institutional obligations to our sponsors on behalf of the PI. The lead PI must certify the proposal; Co-PI’s, Multi-PIs, and Co-Is do not certify the Kuali record. | |
| Principal Investigator (PI) Eligibility | The ability to serve as a PI. Eligibility is determined by one’s job code. PIs are automatically eligible, conditionally eligible, or not automatically eligible (and require a PIE). | Principal Investigator (PI) Eligibility |
| PI Exception (PIE) | If a PI is conditionally eligible, a PI Exception (PIE) is needed for each project. | Principal Investigator (PI) Eligibility |
| Program Opportunity Notice (PON) | PON is a notice of a funding opportunity. | RA Essentials Job Aid - How to Read a Solicitation |
| Postdoctoral Scholar (Postdoc) | Someone who is continuing their training following a doctoral degree, e.g., M.D., Ph.D., Phar.D. They may work on multiple projects. They are managed by the Office of Postdoctoral and Visiting Scholar Affairs. | Office of Postdoctoral and Visiting Scholar Affairs |
| Prime Sponsor | The entity that funds the research, the originating source of the project funding. Example: The NSF funds Stanford University who then gives a subaward to UCSD. In this case, the Prime Sponsor is the NSF, and the Sponsor is Stanford University. | |
| Proposal | A formal request for financial support from a specific sponsor for research, instructional, or public service project. It identifies a need or a problem and offers a persuasive plan to resolve it. | |
| Proposal Central | An e-grant making website shared by many government, non-profit, and private grant-making organizations. | https://proposalcentral.com |
| Proposal Narrative | This explains the science of the project. It is a concise explanation of a research or training plan which has specific or reasonable goals. This is written by the PI. Depending on the sponsor and type of proposal, it can also be called a summary or a technical abstract. | |
| Proposal Submission Timelines | These are the general Proposal Submission deadlines for the central office. Deadlines for submission to the departmental research administrator should earlier to allow the departmental research administrator time to work with the PI to prepare the proposal, review, and route to the central by the requested dates. | SPO Proposal Review and Timely Submission |
| Renewal (also known as Competing Continuation) Proposal | A proposal to renew an expiring project, which will be reviewed competitively with other proposals and for which funding is not assured. | |
| Resubmission | A competitive proposal that was previously submitted but was not funded and is being amended for resubmission. | |
| Revision | A proposal application that proposes a change in the Federal Government's financial obligations or contingent liability from an existing obligation/award (e.g., NIH requires that requests for supplements to their grant awards be submitted using the proposal type of “Revision”). A Revision in this context is always a change to an existing award. | |
| Request for Applications (RFA) | RFA is notice of announcement for project funding. | RA Essentials Job Aid - How to Read a Solicitation |
| Request for Proposal (RFP) | RFP is notice of announcement for project funding. | RA Essentials Job Aid - How to Read a Solicitation |
| Research Administrators Certification Council (RACC) | RACC was formed in 1993 as an independent non-profit organization. RACC certifies that an individual, through experience and testing, has the fundamental knowledge necessary to be a professional research or sponsored programs administrator. | Research Administrators Certification Council (RACC) |
| Research Development Office | Founded in 2008 as the Research Development Proposal Service, the recently renamed Research Development (RD) team helps PIs and their teams find and pursue funding opportunities, collaborate effectively, produce compelling proposals, and compete more successfully for research funding. RD also manages the campus-wide process for |
Research Development Office |
| S2S opportunities | A System-to-System (S2S) opportunity is a proposal in Kuali Research that facilitates submission of federal proposals created in Proposal Development directly to the Grants.gov online system. | |
| Service Agreement |
A contract in which one entity pays another to perform a service. Service agreements can be incoming or outgoing. For general campus incoming service agreements, please contact the Sponsored Project Office at researchadmin@ucsd.edu For Health Sciences incoming research agreements, please visit VCHS Service Agreements. For outgoing service agreements, please visit Oracle Procurement. |
Funded Agreement Types- Service Agreement |
| Service Now (SNOW) | The IT software platform used for the UCSD Service Desk. Also known as Services & Support. | Services & Support |
| Software Licensing Agreement (SLA) | An agreement allowing an outside party to provide the use of software for research purposes, providing both parties mutual benefit from the use of software. | Unfunded Agreements -SLA |
| Solicited Funding Opportunity | A sponsor releases a specific call for proposals. It will define specific areas of research or specific topics or types of projects. It often has a limited opportunity to apply. | |
| Sponsored Projects Finance (SPF) | SPF supports financial management, cost accounting and control and accountability. Services include financial reporting, accounts receivable and cash management, effort reporting, review and approval of payroll or expense transfers, and cost share monitoring and reporting. This office was formerly The Office of Post Award Financial Services (OPAFS). | Sponsored Projects Finance (SPF) |
| Sponsored Projects Office (SPO) | The Sponsored Projects Office (SPO) serves the UC San Diego Research Community with high-quality expertise in support of sponsored research administration, including proposal and (non-financial) award management, client experience and training services, system designs, business process improvement, and research enterprise contracts and grant business intelligence. | Sponsored Projects Office |
| Sponsor | The agency that issues the award or funding agreement to UCSD. The sponsor may fund the research and/or be a pass-through entity. | |
| Sponsor Deadline | This is an external deadline and is when the proposal needs to be received by the sponsor. Pay attention to time and time zone requirements provided by the sponsor guidelines. It is typically a “hard deadline”. | |
| Subaward |
An agreement that transfers a portion of the research and effort of a prime award to another institution. Incoming Subaward: involves the recipient institution transferring a portion of the research and effort of a prime award to UCSD. Outgoing Subaward: involves UCSD transferring a portion of the research and effort of a prime award to another institution. |
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| Summary | This explains the science of the project. It is a concise explanation of a research or training plan which has specific or reasonable goals. This is written by the PI. Depending on the sponsor and type of proposal, it can also be called a proposal narrative or a technical abstract. | |
| Total Direct Costs (TDC) | This includes all direct costs without exclusions. | |
| Training Grants | Training grants are extramural programs that provide funding and training for undergraduates, graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and/or clinical residents. | |
| Transfer | An award that is being transferred from another institution to UCSD when a PI has left the transferring institution and been given an appointment at UCSD. | |
| Tuition and Fees | Tuition Remission allows Graduate Student Researchers (GSR) who are employed at 25% time or more during any one academic quarter to be compensated for their tuition and other UCSD student-related fees. GSR Tuition and Fee Remission is assessed for each academic month, up to nine months, October through June, that the GSR is proposed to work on the project or program. No assessment is made for the three summer months (July, August, and September.) Tuition Remission rates are to be applied according to the graduate department of the GSR which, in some cases, may not be the same department as the principal investigator. |
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| Technical Abstract | This explains the science of the project. It is a concise explanation of a research or training plan which has specific or reasonable goals. This is written by the PI. Technical abstracts are used for Department of Defense (DoD) proposals. | |
| Title Page | The first page of the package includes details such as the title of the project, name of sponsor, name of PI, name of the applicant organization, etc. | |
| UCOP Contract and Grant Manual | The University of California Office of the President (UCOP) Contract and Grant Manual provides guidance on policies for the solicitation, acceptance or execution, and administration of awards from extramural sponsors. | |
| UCPath | UCPath is the UC system-wide human resources and payroll system that replaced PPS. UCPath unifies and standardizes payroll, benefits, and human resources for all UC employees. | UCPath Vocabulary |
| UCSD Sponsored Research | Main information page for research at UCSD. | UCSD Research |
| Uniform Guidance (UG) | UG is a collection of regulations that govern federal sponsors. This is a set of authoritative rules and regulations about federal grants from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). This “guidance” is designed to keep everyone in the federal grants community like Congress, grant-making agencies, and applicants. | |
| Unsolicited Funding Opportunity | A sponsor will have broad guidelines allowing for a wide range of innovative ideas. Will often have a large window to apply. |
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| Visiting Graduate Student (VGS) | A VGS is a registered UCSD graduate student who performs research under the direction of a faculty member; The research may or may not correspond to the student’s thesis research; Polices managed by the Graduate Division | Non-UC Visiting Graduate Students |
| Visiting Scholar | A scholar from another university, research institution, government agency or non-profit organization on leave from their home institution who visits the University for the purposes of participating in a University-sponsored educational program, cooperative agreement, or collaborative research project under the supervision of a UCSD faculty, for a short period of time. | Visiting Scholars |
| xTRAIN | xTrain is an electronic Research Administration (eRA) Commons module that allows program directors/principal investigators, university administrators, and trainees to electronically prepare and submit PHS 2271 Statement of Appointment Forms and PHS 416-7 Termination Notices associated with institutional research training grants, institutional career development awards, individual fellowships, and research education awards. Agency staff also use xTrain to review and process the appointments and termination notices that are submitted electronically. | xTrain |
For more information or questions email researchadmin@ucsd.edu.