Research Administration Glossary

Last Updated: June 25, 2024 12:54:04 PM PDT

Find a list of glossary terms for Research Administration.

Glossary

Couldn't find something or want to request changes? Email researchadmin@ucsd.edu with your ideas.
Term	Definition	Resources
Academic months	9-month appointment. A person with a 9-month appointment will also have a 3-month summer appointment if they do research over the summer.	Conversion Table
Activity Type	Activity Types describe the kind of investigation and research that will be conducted under an award. This can include any of the below options: Basic Research 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.
Allowable Cost	An allowable cost is a cost that can be paid by your contract or grant. UCSD considers a cost to be allowable when it meets the following tests: The cost is reasonable; it reflects what a prudent person might pay. The cost is allocable; the contract or grant that paid the expense benefits from it. For a cost to be allocable; it must meet one of the following criteria:It is incurred solely to advance the work under the sponsored agreement. It benefits the sponsored agreement and the work of the institution, in proportions that can be approximated through the use of reasonable methods. It is necessary to the overall operation of the institution and is deemed to be assignable in part to sponsored projects. The accounting treatment of the cost is consistent across the campus. The cost is allowable as defined by the UG and/ or by the terms of the particular award. These requirements pertain to costs associated with developing a proposal, recording in the University accounting system, or reporting on a financial report.	Sponsored Project Allowable and Unallowable Costs Ecfr 200.403-200.405 (Uniform Guidance)
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 must receive 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 The Top 10 Things You Must Know to Care for and Use Animals at UCSD
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 Guide	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) An individual with a 12-month appointment would indicate the numbers of months they anticipate working on a project. The number of calendar months generally appears on the budget of a proposal. A faculty member with a 12-month appointment should not be confused with a faculty member with an academic year appointment (or 9-month appointment) whose salary may be paid over 12 months. Academic Months (9-month appointment) A faculty member with an appointment from September through May. An academic year appointment is also called a 9-month appointment. Summer Months When completing a proposal, “Summer Months” would only apply to a faculty member with an academic year appointment. Summer months include June, July, and August. The calculation of a summer month is based on 1/9th of the faculty member’s Institutional Base Salary (IBS). See “IBS”	Conversion Table
ASSIST	Application Submission System & Interface for Submission Tracking 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).	Assist Login (nih.gov) Application Submission System & Interface for Submission Tracking (ASSIST) User Guide (nih.gov) How to Apply- Application Guide NIH
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 SO Role.
Award	Contract/grant/Notice of Award (NOA) from the sponsoring entity that documents the terms and conditions, money and period of performance for a sponsored project.
Awarding Institute or Center (IC)	NIH IC 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. The type of research solicited under a BAA attempts to increase knowledge in science and/or to advance the state of the art as compared to practical application of knowledge. See “Funding Opportunity Announcement”
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)	The Business Analytics Hub (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
Calendar months	12-month appointment.	Conversion Table
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.
Confidential Disclosure Agreement (CDA)	Confidential Disclosure Agreement. 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
Contracts and Grants Officer (CGO)	A person who works in one of the Sponsored Projects Offices on campus. It is the same as Sponsored Projects Officer (SPO).	About Sponsored Projects Officer Assignments Organization Charts
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 assigned1 to one or more interventions1 (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 here: NIH's Definition of a Clinical Trial. Download a copy of the Clinical Trials quick guide Clinical Research and Trials (ucsd.edu)	PI-Initiated vs. Industry-Initiated Clinical Trials Clinical Research and Trials (ucsd.edu) Download a copy of the Clinical Trials quick guide
Clinical Trial Phases	Biomedical clinical trials of an experimental drug, treatment, device, of or behavioral intervention may proceed through four phases: Phase I. Tests a new biomedical intervention in a small group of people (e.g. 20-80) for the first time to determine efficacy and evaluate safety (e.g., determine a safe dosage range and identify side effects). Phase II. Study the biomedical or behavioral intervention in a larger group of people (several hundred) to determine efficacy and further evaluate safety. Phase III. Study to determine efficacy of the biomedical or behavioral intervention in large groups of people (from several hundred to several thousand) by comparing the intervention to other standard or experimental interventions as well as to monitor adverse effects, and to collect information that will allow the interventions to be used safely. Phase IV. Studies conducted after the intervention has been marketed. These studies are designed to monitor the effectiveness of the approved intervention in the general population and to collect information about any adverse effects associated with widespread use.
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-I	Co-Investigator. This is other faculty funded to provide research activities; may be from other departments.
Compliance	Proof of compliance with applicable policies, research standards, accreditation standards and external regulations. 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
Conflict of Commitment (COC)	Conflict of Commitment / Outside Professional Activities	COC: Conflict of Commitment
Conflict of Interest (COI)	The Conflict of Interest Office is one of the four core offices of the Research Compliance and Integrity Program in Research Affairs, along with Export Control, IACUC and Research Misconduct.	COI: Conflict of Interest
Congressional District	UC San Diego main campus: CA050 UCSD Medical Center in Hillcrest: CA050 Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO): CA050	UCSD Preparing Proposals Institutional Information
Contact PD/PI	Serves as a primary point of contact. Serving as Contact PD/PI. 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.	Funded Agreements
Cooperative Agreement	Similar to a grant, but the sponsor’s staff may be actively involved in the design and conduct of the research activities.	Funded 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.
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 Current and Pending 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.
Direct Costs (DC)	Direct Costs. These are all the costs that can be charged directly to the contract or grant.	Direct Costs - Budgets
DOD	Department of Defense
DOE	Department of Energy
Data Use Agreement (DUA)	A Data Use/Transfer Agreement 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	Unfunded Agreements DUA
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.
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).	https://ebrap.org/eBRAP/public/index.htm
Effort	All university work performed by an employee over a defined period of time. This includes research, teaching, service, clinical work and administrative duties. A person cannot have greater than 100% effort. An employee may commit 0-5% to a project without salary without it being considered and tracked as cost-share.
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 is the electronic Research Administration. It was developed and is managed by NIH’s Office of Extramural Research under the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. They provide information and resources to help applicants and grantees navigate eRA systems during the grants lifecycle, as well as help reviewers during the application review process.	eRA Commons Login
Export Controls	Export control regulations require researchers to abide by strict rules governing the electronic transfer or shipment overseas (or to foreign nationals within the United States) of certain information, technologies, and commodities, with certain exclusions and exemptions. Exports are defined as the actual shipment or transmission of items out of the United States, and/or the release or disclosure of controlled items to a foreign person, which includes companies not incorporated in the U.S., foreign governments, and international organizations. Export means an actual shipment or transmission of items out of the United States. (EAR 734.2 (b)) Export also means the release or disclosure of controlled items including:visual and computer access to export-controlled items, technology, or technical data (hard or soft copy) which are: Occurring in the U.S. by foreign persons of certain countries validly here on temporary student or employment visas, but who are neither U.S. citizens nor Permanent Residents The “export” is deemed to occur upon the foreign national’s return to his/her home country. The definition of “Foreign persons” includes companies not incorporated in the U.S., foreign governments, and international organizations. Examples include but are not limited to: Physical Shipment, Hand-carried items or laptops taken overseas, email, posting or pulling from an FTP site, accessing a server overseas, file-sharing with foreign person or colleague overseas, telephone, fax, visual inspection by a foreign person in the U.S. or abroad of controlled technology , actual use or application of contolled technology on behalf , or for the benefot of a foreign entity or person anywhere.	Export Control Office and Policies Export Control Regulations Implications of export Controls for Research Types of Export Controlled Technology University Exceptions
Facilities & Administrative (F&A) Costs (also known as “Indirect Costs” or “Overhead”)	Facilities and Administration costs. This is also referred to as “overhead” or IDC. These costs are not specifically identifiable for any one specific project. This is calculated depending on the applicable indirect cost base, such as MTDC, TDC, or TC. This must be within the awarded amount.	Indirect Costs UCSD Learn how to calculate IDC UC Indirect Cost Recovery
FastLane	FastLane is the National Science Foundation's (NSF) online website through which they conduct their relationship to researchers and potential researchers, reviewers, research administrators and their organizations. FastLane is for official NSF use only.
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)
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 Contract	A mechanism used for the procurement of a product or service contract with the primary benefit to the sponsor. A contract contains specific obligations on the part of both the sponsor and the university, including specific deliverable or milestones.	Funded Agreements
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 (thefdp.org)
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: September 23, 2024) NOTE: Due to a character limit in NIH ASSIST do not use the "FWA" prefix when entering the assurance number
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.	UCSD Institutional Information and Codes
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.	UCSD Foundation and Research Relatrions
Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA)	Funding Opportunity Announcements are now called NOFO based on Uniform Guidance.
Gift	A contribution that is donative in intent, given voluntarily and without expectation of consideration.	Gifts vs. Sponsored Awards (ucsd.edu)
Government sponsor	This includes federal, state and local government agencies.
Graduate student researcher (GSR)	A registered UC San Diego 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.	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.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. See the link under resources for guidelines and more information regarding the HS Technology Service Charge.	Health Sciences Technology Services Charge (HS-TSC) UCSD
IDC	Indirect Costs. This is also referred to as “overhead” or F&A. These costs are not specifically identifiable for any one specific project. This is calculated depending on the applicable indirect cost base, such as MTDC, TDC, or TC. This must be within the total costs of the awarded amount.	Indirect Costs (IDC) Blink IDC Rate Agreement Calculating Direct and Indirect Costs
IDC Exception	Indirect Costs Exception. This must be obtained from UCOP or the UCSD Chancellor's authorized delegate when the project does not use the standard applicable IDC rate.
IDC Waiver	Indirect Costs 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 changes every year.
Institutional Information	Find vital UC San Diego 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	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.	Kuali Research Proposal and Activity Types Interpersonnel Agreement (IPA)
Internal Deadline	This is when the proposal is due to the UCSD SPO for review. There is no official submit-by date. Note: when creating a KR proposal, an internal deadline is required.
Just-In-Time	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) (ucsd.edu)
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.	Kuali Research Kuali Research Guides and Training
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.
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.	LOI Form
Mandatory Cost Sharing	Required by agency policy or award terms and conditions.	Cost Sharing Overview (ucsd.edu)
Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)	Memorandum of Understanding. 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)	Material Transfer Agreement. 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)	Modified Total Direct Costs. 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)	National Aeronautics and Space Administration	NASA Grants and Cooperative Agreements Guidance
Non-disclosure Agreement (NDA)	Non-disclosure Agreement. 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.
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)	National Institutes of Health	NIH Grants Policy Statement Types of Applications Pre-Award and Award Process Post-Award Monitoring and Reporting How to Apply - Application Guide Continuous Submission
Notice of Funding (Opportunity)NOF(O)	Notice of Funding (Opportunity). It includes a description of the project and the entities that are eligible to apply for the funding.
Non-Federal Sponsor	This includes nonprofit organizations, industry (for-profit), institutions of higher learning, foreign agencies, and other UC Campuses
National Science Foundation (NSF)	National Science Foundation	NSF PAPPG
National Science Foundation Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (NSF PAPPG)	National Science Foundation Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide. The policies that govern NSF proposals and awards.	NSF PAPPG
SPO	Sponsored Projects Office (SPO)
Office of Clinical Trials (OCTA)	Office of Clinical Trials (OCTA).	Office of Clinical Trials (OCTA)
OnBase	OnBase is used to route a PI Exception (PIE).
Office of Coverage Analysis Administration (OCAA)	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	UCSD’s eProcurement site that replaced Marketplace.
Other sponsored activities	To be used only if a research project cannot be classified as basic, applied, developmental, or clinical research.	Kuali Research Proposal and Activity Types
Program Announcement (PA)	Program Announcement for a funding opportunity.
Proposal Analysis and Management System (PAMS)	Proposal Analysis and Management System 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.
PI	Principal Investigator. 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.
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.
PI Eligibility	The ability to serve as a Principal Investigator. 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)	Program Opportunity Notice. A notice of a funding opportunity.
Post-award: (OPAFS)	The Office of Post Award and Financial Services (OPAFS) 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 Cost share monitoring and reporting	The Office of Post Award and Financial Services (OPAFS)
Postdoc	Postdoctoral scholar. 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 a 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 (ucsd.edu)
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)	Request for Applications. A notice of announcement for project funding.
Request for Proposal (RFP)	Request for Proposal. A notice of announcement for project funding.
Research Administrators Certification Council (RACC)	The Research Administrators Certification Council (RACC) 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.	ABOUT & WELCOME RACC (cra-cert.org)
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 Ancillary Research Agreements team. 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.
Software Licensing Agreement (SLA)	Software Licensing Agreement. 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. Often have a limited opportunity to apply
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 Subward: 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	Outgoing Subawards Research Knowledge Base-Subawardee or Vendor Agreement Types
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.
Summer Months	For people with an academic-month appointment, they would have a 3-month summer appointment if they work on a grant during the summer.
Total Direct Costs (TDC)	Total Direct Costs. 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.	Training Grants at UC San Diego (ucsd.edu) Research Admin Meetings (ucsd.edu) Program Resources (ucsd.edu)
Transfer	An award that is being transferred from another institution to UC San Diego when a Principal Investigator has left the transferring institution and been given an appointment at UC San Diego.	Grant Transfers
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. Graduate Student Researcher 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.	Tuition and Fees Budget
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.	UCOP Contract and Grant Manual
UCPath	UCPath is the new 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 Training	https://ucpath.ucsd.edu/training/training-hub.html	https://ucpath.ucsd.edu/training/training-hub.html
UCPath Vocabulary	https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_V72eyTnZE&feature=youtu.be	https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_V72eyTnZE&feature=youtu.be
UCSD Sponsored Research	Main information page for Research at UCSD.
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—Congress, grant-making agencies, and applicants—on the same page. More information can be found at www.Grants.gov.	eCFR :: 2 CFR Part 200 -- Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards
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.
Visiting Graduate Student (VGS)	A Graduate Student Researcher is a registered UC San Diego 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 (ucsd.edu)
Visiting Scholar	A scholar from another university, research institution, government agency or non-profit organization on leave from his/her 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 UC San Diego faculty, for a short period of time.	Visiting Scholars (ucsd.edu)
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.