Research Administration Glossary
Last Updated: November 14, 2023 9:09:39 AM PST
Give feedback
Find a list of glossary terms for Research Administration.
| Term | Definition | Category |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | People on the Proposal: Effort |
| 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). | Systems: External |
| 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. | Award |
| BAA | Business Associate Agreement | Unfunded Agreements |
| 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. | Activity Type |
| Basic research (Marine Physical Lab) | Basic research conducted by Scripps Institution of Oceanography ship and ship technician use. | Activity Type |
| 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. | Proposal Development |
| 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. | Systems: Internal |
| Budget | A reasonable estimate of expenses necessary to conduct the project. This is typically accompanied by a budget justification. | Proposal Development |
| Calendar months | 12-month appointment. | People on the Proposal: Effort |
| 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 Agreements |
| CGO | Contracts and Grants Officer; a person who works in one of the Sponsored Projects Offices on campus. It is the same as Sponsored Projects Officer (SPO). | People Who Assist with the Proposal: SPOs |
| 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. |
Activity Type |
| Co-I | Co-Investigator. This is other faculty funded to provide research activities; may be from other departments. | People on the Proposal |
| 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. | Proposal Development |
| Continuation | A non-competitive proposal for the next funding increment of a current project usually submitted annually, if required by the agency | Proposal Type |
| Contract | An agreement with terms. | Research Agreement Award Types: Funded |
| Cooperative Agreement | Similar to a grant, but the sponsor’s staff may be actively involved in the design and conduct of the research activities. | Research Agreement Award Types: Funded |
| Co-PI | Co-Principal Investigator. Senior Key Personnel who is the secondary lead on a proposal. For NIH proposals, use Multi-PI instead. | People on the Proposal |
| 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. | Proposal Development |
| 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. | Proposal Development |
| 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. | Proposal Development |
| DC | Direct Costs. These are all the costs that can be charged directly to the contract or grant. | Budget and Budget Terms |
| DOD | Department of Defense | Sponsors/Agencies |
| DOE | Department of Energy | Sponsors/Agencies |
| DUA | Data Use Agreement | Unfunded Agreements |
| 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. | People on the Proposal |
| 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. | Systems: External |
| F&A | 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. | Budget and Budget Terms |
| 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. | Systems: External |
| 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. | Systems: External |
| 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. | Research Agreement Award Types: Funded |
| 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. | Research Agreement Award Types: Funded |
| FOA | Funding Opportunity Announcement | Funding Opportunities and Solicitations |
| Gift | A contribution that is donative in intent, given voluntarily and without expectation of consideration. | Research Agreement Award Types: Funded |
| Government sponsor | This includes federal, state and local government agencies. | Sponsors/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. | People on the Proposal |
| Grant | A form of financial assistance awarded to conduct research or other programs that is specified in an approved proposal or statement of work. | Research Agreement Award Types: Funded |
| 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. | Systems: External |
| 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. | Budget and Budget Terms |
| 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. | Budget and Budget Terms |
| 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. | Budget and Budget Terms |
| 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. | Activity Type |
| 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. | Activity Type |
| 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. | Deadlines |
| 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. | Systems: Internal |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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. | Budget and Budget Terms |
| 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. | People on the Proposal |
| 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 |
| New | A competitive proposal for support of a project that is being submitted for funding the first time. | Proposal Type |
| NIH | National Institutes of Health | Sponsors/Agencies |
| NOF(O) | Notice of Funding (Opportunity). It includes a description of the project and the entities that are eligible to apply for the funding. | Funding Opportunities and Solicitations |
| Non-federal sponsor | This includes nonprofit organizations, industry (for-profit), institutions of higher learning, foreign agencies, and other UC Campuses | Sponsors/Agencies |
| NSF | National Science Foundation | Sponsors/Agencies |
| NSF PAPPG | National Science Foundation Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide. The policies that govern NSF proposals and awards. |
Policies and Regulations
|
| SPO | Sponsored Projects Office (SPO) | People Who Assist with the Proposal: SPOs |
| OCTA | Office of Clinical Trials (OCTA). | People Who Assist with the Proposal: SPOs |
| OnBase | OnBase is used to route a PI Exception (PIE). | Systems: Internal |
| Oracle | UCSD’s eProcurement site that replaced Marketplace. | Systems: Internal |
| Other sponsored activities | To be used only if a research project cannot be classified as basic, applied, developmental, or clinical research. | Activity Type |
| PA | Program Announcement for a funding opportunity. | Funding Opportunities and Solicitations |
| 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. | Systems: External |
| 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. | Research Agreement Award Types: Funded |
| 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. | People on the 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. | People on the Proposal |
| 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). | People on the Proposal |
| PI Exception (PIE) | If a PI is conditionally eligible, a PI Exception (PIE) is needed for each project. | People on the Proposal |
| PON | Program Opportunity Notice. A notice of a funding opportunity. | Funding Opportunities and Solicitations |
| Post-award: (OPAFS) | The Office of Post Award and Financial Services (OPAFS) supports financial management, cost accounting and control and accountability. Services include:
|
Post-award |
| 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. | People on the Proposal |
| 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. | Sponsors/Agencies |
| 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 Development |
| Proposal Central | An e-grant making website shared by many government, non-profit, and private grant-making organizations. | Systems: External |
| 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 Development |
| Renewal | A proposal to renew an expiring project, which will be reviewed competitively with other proposals and for which funding is not assured. | Proposal Type |
| Resubmission | A competitive proposal that was previously submitted but was not funded and is being amended for resubmission. | Proposal Type |
| 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. | Proposal Type |
| RFA | Request for Applications. A notice of announcement for project funding. | Funding Opportunities and Solicitations |
| RFP | Request for Proposal. A notice of announcement for project funding. | Funding Opportunities and Solicitations |
| 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. | Systems: Internal |
| 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. |
Research Agreement Award Types: Funded |
| Service Now (SNOW) | The IT software platform used for the UCSD Service Desk. | Systems: Internal |
| 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 |
| SPO | Sponsored Projects Office | People Who Assist with the Proposal: SPOs |
| 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. | Sponsors/Agencies |
| 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”. | Deadlines |
| Subaward | An agreement that transfers a portion of the research and effort of a prime award to another institution. | Research Agreement Award Types: Funded |
| 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. | Proposal Development |
| 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. | People on the Proposal: Effort |
| TDC | Total Direct Costs. Includes all direct costs without exclusions. | Budget and Budget Terms |
| 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. | Proposal Development |
| 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. | Proposal Development |
| 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. |
Policies and Regulations
|
| 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. | Systems: Internal |
| UCPath Training | https://ucpath.ucsd.edu/training/training-hub.html | Post-award |
| UCPath Vocabulary | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_V72eyTnZE&feature=youtu.be | Post-award |
| UCSD Sponsored Research | Main information page for Research at UCSD. | People Who Assist with the Proposal: SPOs |
| 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. |
Policies and Regulations
|
| 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 | People on the Proposal |
| 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. | People on the Proposal |
| 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. | Systems: External |
For more information or questions email researchadmin@ucsd.edu.