March 13, 2023

Reminder: GMAS Biohazard Approval

As stated in the July 2021 GMAS Release Notes, “Biohazard approval has been retired; Existing Biohazard approvals will become legacy approvals.” Therefore, the GMAS Approvals section will allow GMs to indicate if a project involves Biohazardous Materials, however, the GMAS approval will no longer be flagged as "pending" and no action will be required for GMs or SRAs, after the approval has been selected in GMAS. 

Update: Consolidated Fringe Rates Approval

Harvard has received approval from the Federal government to consolidate our 6 fringe benefit rates into 3 rates beginning in FY2024. Federal and non-federal outgoing proposals should now use the Harvard Chan School's consolidated rates.

Pending Signed Rate Agreement Letter

We anticipate receiving the signed agreement by the end of the month. During the interim period while we await the official DHHS/CAS FY24 F&A/Fringe Benefit rate letter, there may be Federal proposals that require a copy of the rate agreement or the date of the agreement. In those circumstances, please use the following language: “Harvard’s consolidated fringe benefit rates have been negotiated with DHHS/CAS. On March 2, 2023 DHHS/CAS approved the consolidated rates and instructed Harvard to use these rates pending the official rate agreement.”

Harvard e-News: March Issue is Now Available

The March issue of the Harvard e-News is now available. Harvard's Financial Administration Department publishes this monthly electronic newsletter for users of the University's administrative systems. They welcome questions and suggestions (admin_systems_enews@harvard.edu); if your questions are of general interest, they'll answer them in future issues.

Systems Updates

• ARAP/HART Updates
• Buy-to-Pay (B2P) Upcoming March System Outage
• GMAS March Release Notes
• Oracle EBS 12.2 Upgrade Information
• PeopleSoft HR Enhancements
• Research Administration & Compliance Systems Updates

SPA Contact: Demographic Data & Discrimination Information for Proposals & Awards

Occasionally, certain sponsors will request demographic data or discrimination information for proposals or awards. If you encounter a request for this type of data, SPA has this information on file and it can be obtained by contacting Sam Kasuli (skasuli@hsph.harvard.edu). This information has also been added to Harvard Chan School's Institutional Information webpage.

New HCSRA Page: Important Dates for the Harvard Chan School

We created a new Important Dates HCSRA page to help administrators easily identify upcoming deadlines. Please Note: Events and training will continue to be added to the HCSRA Events and Training Calendar.

• The top of the page includes a calendar with internal deadlines for Harvard Chan School
• The bottom of the page provides more deadlines not included in the internal deadline calendar

Resource Roundup for Finding Funding Opportunities

NIH announces grant and similar award opportunities through its Notices of Funding Opportunity (NOFOs). To better your chances of receiving funding, it’s important to keep up to date on newly published NOFOs to find those that best fit your research interests. But how? Here’s a handy list of resources to help investigators find funding opportunities.

Guidance for the Repayment of Grant Funds

NIH issued Notice NOT-OD-23-102 to provide updated guidance to NIH recipients who need to return funds in the HHS Payment Management System (PMS) for NIH grant awards that have ended, but funds have not yet expired (e.g., funds obligated from an annual appropriation within 5 years of current fiscal year).

NIH Redesign of the xTrain Module in eRA Commons

NIH issued Notice NOT-OD-23-094 to inform the community that the xTrain module in eRA Commons has been redesigned and the release is anticipated on March 30, 2023. The xTrain module is used to process research training appointments, reappointments and more that extend to institutional training, career development, fellowships, and research education awards. The xTrain module was redesigned to streamline workflows and present a more user-friendly interface. The module is adopting the new visual appearance of other eRA modules with enhanced security and stability. To view the list of significant changes, refer to full Notice NOT-OD-23-094.

GMAS Subagreement Module Overview for Central Office Research Admins 

Date: Ongoing

Register: Harvard Training Portal

Description: This is the first of two on-line courses that are pre-requisites for the Central Office hands-on training. This self-paced course provides an overview of the new GMAS subagreement workflow, the subagreement dashboard, subagreement document management, and new communication functions in GMAS. The overview course is approximately 40 minutes in length and is divided into short videos to enable you to take the course in small increments to fit your schedule. The second on-line course for Central Administrators, which is a step-by-step demonstration course will be released shortly. If you have any questions, please contact Jennifer Neira.

Hotel and Events Contracts Training - Available for Enrollment

Date: Wednesday, March 15, 2023, 11:00AM - 12:00PM

Register: Harvard Training Portal

Description: If you are planning an event off-campus, the Hotel and Events Contract Training course offered by the Strategic Procurement Contracts Group is a great introduction to the contract issues that you will want to think about. They will also discuss how to best address COVID-19 risk in new Hotel/Event contracts.

SAVE THE DATE: 24th Celebration with the Stars Event

Date: Thursday, March 20, 2023, 2:00PM 

Register: Zoom invite to follow

Description: The Office of Human Resources is inviting you to a virtual recognition event to honor staff, faculty, and academic appointees who have reached a key milestone at Harvard in calendar year 2022.

Fellowship, Prize, Grant, Award, Allowance, and Student Reimbursement Policy Review Session 

Date: Wednesday, March 22, 2023, 10:00AM - 11:00AM

Register: Registration Link 

Description: Do you find yourself confused on what the differences are between prizes, grants, allowances, fellowships, or a business expense reimbursement? Would you like to know how and when to process these types of payments and when they may be reportable or taxable? Join the Financial Policy and Nonresident Alien Tax Compliance teams during this virtual zoom training. 

Specific Aims Workshop 

Date: Friday, March 24, 2023, 10:00AM - 12:30PM, Kresge 110 [In-person Event]

Register: Registration Link 

Description: This workshop will analyze the arguments and narrative pathways embedded in the one-page Specific Aims section, the grant proposal component that has the greatest impact on reviewers and other study section members. We will then apply these principles and constructively peer review the draft Aims that have been submitted. This workshop will focus on the NIH format, but the principles we will discuss can be applied across industry and foundation sponsors. To use the workshop time most effectively, participants will be asked to read a specific aims example in advance, comparing it against a checklist. Note: If you would like us to consider your draft Specific Aims for peer review in the workshop, please email it to Vanessa Barton by Friday, March 17, along with information on what mechanism you are applying for (e.g., R01, R21), to which Institute/Center, and the application’s draft title.

NLM: Standardize Your Research Data with the NIH Common Data Element Repository 

Date: Wednesday, March 29, 2023, 1:00PM - 2:00PM

Register: Registration Link 

Description: Through live demonstrations and hands-on exercises, this course will introduce you to common data elements (CDEs) and the NIH Common Data Element Repository (CDE-R). The course begins with an in-depth introduction to what CDEs are and examples of how researchers are already using them. Then, you’ll see how to search the repository and practice searching on your own. Subject matter experts will be in attendance to answer your questions.

Creating a Safe Research Environment

Date: Thursday, April 6, 2023, 10:00AM - 11:00AM

Register: Registration Link

Description: Have you thought about steps you can take to help create a safe and inclusive research environment for others? Join us at this session to explore proactive and reactive steps you can take to establish a culture where others feel affirmed and supported in the research environment. The session will include reflective and interactive components as we examine the impact of non-inclusive spaces, steps we can take in our spheres of influence, and key variables that inform our ability to successfully support others.

Classification of Employee Fellow vs Nonemployee Fellow Brown Bag 

Date: Monday, April 17, 2023, 11:00AM - 12:00PM

Register: Registration Link 

Description: Do you wonder why some fellows are classified as an employee and others are not? Would you like to understand why it is important to classify these individuals correctly and the best way to classify them? The Financial Policy Office and Office for Sponsored Programs will be holding this brown bag will review the recently issued draft guidance regarding the Classification of Employee Fellows vs Nonemployee Fellows for both students and nonstudents and seek feedback on what would help hiring departments classify these individuals correctly.

Job Openings in Research Administration

We would like to use this section to highlight current research administration job openings. We will keep this section up to date and all job postings can be found on Harvard Careers.

Senior Grants and Contracts Manager
Sponsored Programs Administration 
Description: The Senior Grants and Contracts Manager is an integral part of the research enterprise and works in close partnership with faculty members. They are a primary resource for providing guidance and oversight on issues related to fiscal, administrative and regulatory management of a portfolio of grants, contracts and sponsored programs from award receipt through closeout. These grants are from a wide-range of sponsors including the federal government (e.g. NIH), foundations, industry, and international contracts from foreign entities. 
Grade: 56
61675BR

Senior Grants and Contracts Manager
Sponsored Programs Administration - EPI
Description: The Senior Grants and Contracts Manager is an integral part of the research enterprise and works in close partnership with faculty members. They are a primary resource for providing guidance and oversight on issues related to fiscal, administrative and regulatory management of a portfolio of grants, contracts and sponsored programs from award receipt through closeout. These grants are from a wide-range of sponsors including the federal government (e.g. NIH), foundations, industry, and international contracts from foreign entities. 
Grade: 56
61587BR

Senior Grants and Contracts Manager
Sponsored Programs Administration - EPI
Description: The Senior Grants and Contracts Manager is an integral part of the research enterprise and works in close partnership with faculty members. They are a primary resource for providing guidance and oversight on issues related to fiscal, administrative and regulatory management of a portfolio of grants, contracts and sponsored programs from award receipt through closeout. These grants are from a wide-range of sponsors including the federal government (e.g. NIH), foundations, industry, and international contracts from foreign entities. 
Grade: 56
61588BR

Senior Grants and Contracts Manager
Sponsored Programs Administration - MET
Description: The Senior Grants and Contracts Manager is an integral part of the research enterprise and works in close partnership with faculty members. They are a primary resource for providing guidance and oversight on issues related to fiscal, administrative and regulatory management of a portfolio of grants, contracts and sponsored programs from award receipt through closeout. These grants are from a wide-range of sponsors including the federal government (e.g. NIH), foundations, industry, and international contracts from foreign entities. 
Grade: 56
61269BR

Senior Grants and Contracts Manager 
Sponsored Programs Administration - NUT
Description: The Senior Grants and Contracts Manager is an integral part of the research enterprise and works in close partnership with faculty members. They are a primary resource for providing guidance and oversight on issues related to fiscal, administrative and regulatory management of a portfolio of grants, contracts and sponsored programs from award receipt through closeout. These grants are from a wide-range of sponsors including the federal government (e.g. NIH), foundations, industry, and international contracts from foreign entities. 
Grade: 56
59960BR

Senior Grants and Contracts Manager
Sponsored Programs Administration - GHP
Description: The Senior Grants and Contracts Manager is an integral part of the research enterprise and works in close partnership with faculty members. They are a primary resource for providing guidance and oversight on issues related to fiscal, administrative and regulatory management of a portfolio of grants, contracts and sponsored programs from award receipt through closeout. These grants are from a wide-range of sponsors including the federal government (e.g. NIH), foundations, industry, and international contracts from foreign entities. 
Grade: 56
61131BR

Senior Grants and Contracts Manager
Sponsored Programs Administration - EPI
Description: The Senior Grants and Contracts Manager is an integral part of the research enterprise and works in close partnership with faculty members. They are a primary resource for providing guidance and oversight on issues related to fiscal, administrative and regulatory management of a portfolio of grants, contracts and sponsored programs from award receipt through closeout. These grants are from a wide-range of sponsors including the federal government (e.g. NIH), foundations, industry, and international contracts from foreign entities. 
Grade: 56
61145BR

Senior Grants Manager 
Center for Biostatistics in AIDS Research (CBAR)
Description: The SGM will work closely with researchers and other members of the Finance Team to design and prepare budgets, as well as assemble highly confidential, final grant proposals. The SGM will analyze past data in preparing projections, completing required forms for new grant proposals, and completing competitive renewals and continuations for a number of different sponsors (NIH, subcontractors, and corporations). The SGM will also be responsible for monitoring all deadlines and contacting the School’s Office of Sponsored Programs Administration to resolve any problems or issues that arise. 
Grade: 56
58978BR