Welcome

The Weill Cornell Medicine (WCM) Office of Sponsored Research Administration (OSRA) supports faculty, staff, and students in their efforts to secure and grow sponsored research funding. This includes reviewing, negotiating, endorsing, and providing administrative oversight for proposals, awards, and contracts in accordance with applicable laws, policies, and regulations. 

Overview

Grants

The Grants team provides support to WCM faculty and administrators for pre-award and non-financial post-award management of sponsored project proposals and awards. This includes ensuring successful and timely proposals submissions, facilitating grant transfers, reviewing, and submitting Just-in-Time documents, progress reports, and closeout materials. The team serves as subject matter experts on grant policies and standard operating procedures.

Contracts

The Contracts Team is responsible for the review and approval of sponsored and non-sponsored agreements, i.e., MTAs, DUAs and CDAs, for basic science research projects funded by industrial sponsors, non-profits, and other extramural research. Contracts Specialists carefully review the terms and conditions of the agreements under its purview for consistency with the Institution's academic principles, the academic freedom of WCM researchers, and concurrent obligations to existing funding agencies.

The Subawards Team is responsible for establishing outgoing subaward agreements for collaborative grant awards where a portion of the scope of work is being assigned outside WCM to a Consortium Site. The Subawards Specialists work directly with the investigators, department staff, and external collaborators to manage, develop, negotiate, and execute outgoing subawards.

Operations

The Operations team is responsible for post-award sponsored research administration (non-financial), and for the integrity of data stored Weill Research Gateway (WRG) for reporting purposes. The team prepares and analyzes scheduled and ad-hoc reports, including dashboards and metrics reports that monitor and guide performance. These data inform planning and strategic initiatives. The team evaluates incoming award documentation prior to account creation and performs annual WBS account compliance desk reviews of non-competitive continuations. Operations reviews and approves financial transactions on sponsored research accounts. Operations oversees the review and execution of incoming federal subaward agreements.

News/Announcements

OSRA news and announcements  are released to the community via the OSRA-updates listserv. Click here to send an email and subscribe to the listserv.

Government Operating on Continuing Resolution through March 22nd

Recommended actions between now and March 22, 2024:

  • File No Cost Extensions (NCEs): for awards set to expire close to March 22nd determine if PI intends to submit an appropriately justified NCE. Submit NCE requests before March 22nd. In the event of a shutdown, NCEs requiring agency approval may not be processed until normal operations resume.
  • Process Invoices: Process invoices and send reminders to subrecipients and vendors to submit invoices for Weill Cornell Medicine processing.
  • File Award Closeouts: Review awards that are within the 120-day closeout deadline, and file closeout documentation prior to March 22nd. Final closeout procedures may not be processed if there is a government shutdown.

Also consider submitting:

  • Carryforward requests
  • Prior Approval for Direct Cost budgets that exceed $500,000.
  • Discuss Plans for Submission with Program Officer

For additional information, please see our communication on this topic from September 28, 2023 below:

Weill Cornell Medicine (WCM), the Office of Sponsored Research Administration (OSRA) and Grants and Contracts Accounting (GCA) are monitoring developments in Washington, D.C. closely and evaluating the likelihood of a shutdown occurring as circumstances evolve.

A government shutdown has minimal immediate impact on the ability of ongoing federally funded research to continue. Weill Cornell Medicine Principal Investigators and researchers may proceed as normal unless notified otherwise by OSRA, GCA or directly by a federal sponsor.

Application Systems & Proposal Treatment

  • Proposal submissions:
  • OSRA will continue to submit proposals to federal sponsors to the extent proposal submission systems are operable.
  • Faculty should continue to submit grant applications in accordance with standard deadlines unless agency specific notifications are posted indicating otherwise.
  • The Grants.gov Contact Center will likely remain available. However, it's unknown if all Help Desks will remain functional.
  • Processing by agencies: Proposal submissions are not expected to be processed by agencies until normal operations resume.
  • Peer Reviews and Council Meetings: No peer reviews or council meetings will take place, which will impact the evaluation and approval process of proposed projects.

Existing Award Management

  • Existing awards: The ability to spend on active awards during a government shutdown is minimally impacted. This changes over time depending on the length of the shutdown. OSRA and GCA will closely monitor updates from federal agencies and provide guidance as circumstances unfolds.
  • Federal Contracts: Contracts may be subject to stop-work orders. Determinations will be made by each agency on a contract-by-contract basis.

New Awards

  • New Awards and Contracts: New awards will not be issued, and contracts will not be executed. A government shutdown will delay proposal reviews and subsequent award announcements. After a shutdown concludes, reopening agencies and scheduling peer review committee meetings takes considerable time.

Federal Communication

  • Communications with federal sponsors and personnel: As a result of furloughing, federal employees will generally be unavailable for inquiries and support. This includes program officers. 

Federal Work Agreements

  • Cooperative Agreements: Faculty working in federal labs/facilities and possibly on cooperative agreements and joint awards may be most immediately affected. They could receive notification that they are not permitted to work on associated awards during the shutdown.
  • Federal IPA Agreements: Faculty working at a federal agency via an IPA agreement should immediately contact the agency to determine next steps. OSRA will identify and assist faculty with IPA agreements.

Questions may be submitted to OSRA at grantsandcontract@med.cornell.edu.

Cornell has launched a global resources and guidance page at U.S. Federal Government Shutdown: Research Continuity Guidance page.

Weill Cornell Medicine’s central research administration has experience mediating government shutdowns and is fully committed to supporting our research community.

NEW SOP & Request Form for Advanced Accounts

OSRA, in coordination with Grants Accounting, has issued a new Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for Advanced Account Requests. The SOP has been implemented to set parameters around when advanced accounts can be requested and how long they can remain in an Advanced Account. As there are institutional risks associated with advanced accounts, this is an essential policy to ensure the necessary steps are completed in a timely fashion and accounts are brought to full account creation status.

The SOP outlines the prerequisites required in order to request an advanced account. It also outlines the responsibilities of the PI and their Department Staff in preparing a request and managing an award in an Advanced Account status. Advanced accounts will only remain open for 90 days from the budget period start date . If a finalized award/agreement and/or compliance documentation is not in place within 90 days, the account will be deactivated, and expenditures will be transferred to the designated fund provided by the department.

The updated policy is available here and has been published on the OSRA website, under Policies & Procedures. To align with the new SOP, the Advanced Account Request form has also been updated and is available here. Effective April 1, 2024 the new SOP and Advanced Account Request Form must be utilized. 

Department staff managing accounts for their PIs must review and familiarize themselves with this policy.

OSRA Promotion Announcements

We are delighted to announce a recent promotion within OSRA.

Patricia Kearins has been promoted to the position of Subawards Manager, Sponsored Programs.

Patricia’s tenure at Weill Cornell Medicine spans more than 11 years. She is highly qualified with many years of professional experience and previous positions in sponsored research administration. She most recently served as Team Lead, Government and Non-Profit Grant Agreements and Subawards in OSRA.

Patricia will provide comprehensive oversight and management of Weill Cornell Medicine’s subaward portfolio. In her newly expanded role, Patty will work directly with investigators, grant and departmental administrators, external collaborators, and OSRA Pre/Post Award Staff to manage, develop, and execute subawards and assist with the post-award activities related to subaward administration. 

Patricia will also implement new internal proposals to better serve OSRA’s development and forward-facing subaward administrative initiatives to maintain continued satisfaction amongst faculty and research administration personnel. 

Revisions to Submitting a Progress Report for OSRA Review SOP

OSRA has issued a revision to its Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for Submitting a Progress Report for OSRA Review. The policy has been updated to align with our current systems/processes and to outline expectations depending on sponsor type and submission mechanisms for active grant awards.

The SOP outlines the responsibilities of PIs and their Departmental Staff when submitting documents for internal review. While progress reporting requirements can vary depending on sponsor and grant type, this document standardizes the process by which all progress reports that require signature and/or submission by an authorized official, be prepared and submitted to OSRA. 

Other highlights include review and submission timelines; non-NIH progress reports; and interim NIH RPPRs.

The updated policy is available here and has been published on the OSRA website, under Policies & Procedures.

Department staff assigned to assist PIs with progress reports must review and familiarize themselves with this policy.

Executive Level II Salary Cap (NIH/AHRQ Salary Cap)

The President has signed an Executive order to implement the January 2024 pay adjustments. Effective January 1, 2024, the Executive Level II salary was increased to $221,900. The increase is not yet confirmed on the NIH/AHRQ website, but we anticipate a formal notice will be forthcoming.

eRA Commons Account Creation Request Form

OSRA has created a streamlined process for department personnel to request eRA commons accounts and/or modifications to existing accounts. The form will ask users a series of questions to ensure OSRA has all the required information to create or modify an existing account.

The eRA Commons Account Creation form is available here. Effective immediately, department personnel and/or investigators must utilize the form to initiate a request to OSRA. Upon completion, OSRA will be notified via email and will process the request within 1 business day.

An updated standard operating procedure is available here and has been published on the OSRA website, under Policies & Procedures.

 

Revisions to OSRA's Competitive Grant Review/Submission SOP

OSRA has issued a revision to its Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for Competitive Grant Application Review and Submission. The policy has been updated to align with our current systems/processes and to outline expectations of review based on receipt date.

The updated policy is available here and has been published on the OSRA website, under Policies & Procedures.

We invite the WCM research community to review and familiarize themselves with this important document.

Changes to the Biographical Sketch and Other Support Format Page

NIH released NOT-OD-21-073 to introduce new requirements for Biosketches and Other Support submitted to NIH in grant applications, progress reports (RPPRs) and at Just-in-Time on or after May 25, 2021. Visit OSRA's comprehensive resources page to learn more about this significant change. 

Undue Foreign Influence On Research Integrity

Congress and the major federal funding agencies have recently taken action to publicize and protect against the potential for Foreign Influence on Research Integrity at research universities and academic medical centers.

Click here to go to WCM’s Foreign Influence Tools and Resources

Academic Integration 

Cornell University's Academic Integration Initiative fosters collaborative, multidisciplinary research across Cornell’s campuses in Ithaca and New York City. Visit the site's Sponsored Research resources page to learn more about cross campus research collaborations, here

Contact Us

Office of Sponsored Research Administration

1300 York Avenue

New York, NY 10065

(646) 962-8290