Research Administrative Business Processes & Guidance

The  Account Breakdown Template  was developed for department grant managers to accurately provide the amount of funds to be allocated to each account for awards with multiple accounts in GMAS. The goal of this template is to expedite the processing of awards and account set up. It allows department grant managers to allocate the direct costs and indirect costs for subawards, ensuring that the amounts set aside accurately reflect the department’s intent when drafting subaward agreements and subaward amendments. The template also provides dedicated space for reallocation of funds between accounts, and a tab with detailed instructions to provide guidance. 

The Agreement Terms Quick Guide is intended to provide a general overview of some of the most common issues with terms requiring negotiation for agreements executed by ORA based on Harvard policies and requirements.

Administrators can request to create an active account string for a sponsored project prior to institutional award acceptance to allow project charges to be incurred at the requesting department’s own financial risk, in accordance with University policy. This guidance summarizes some key information to be aware of when requesting an advance (“at risk”) account.

At-Risk Requests Guidance

This OSP Webpage outlines the process for entering incoming Billing Agreements using sponsored funds into GMAS. Refer to the Billing Agreement Process Business Process for more information.

Billing Agreement Templates

• Salary Billing Agreement Template for Affiliates
• Trainee Stipend Billing Agreement Template for Affiliates
• Employee Service Agreement Template

Pre-recorded Billing Agreement Training Videos

• HMS Billing Agreement Training PowerPoint Presentation
• GMAS Demo for Incoming Billing Agreements

SciENcv (Science Experts Network Curriculum Vitae) is the most efficient way to create and maintain biosketches for NIH and NSF grant applications and annual reports. SciENcv is required for many researchers submitting biosketches to NSF. Visit the SciENcv website for FAQs and review the HMS guidance, Building an NIH Biosketch in SciENcv as a Delegate. Questions?  Contact Pernille_Konow@hms.harvard.edu

Carryforward is a process through which unobligated funds remaining at the end of one budget period may be carried forward to any subsequent budget period. The resources below include guidance and templates to support requests for carryforward.

• Carryforward Basics – A detailed guide to NIH Carryforward requests
• Carryforward Process – Guidance on NIH Carryforward Requests
  • Appendix A: Carryforward Request Letter Template for NIH Carryforward requests
  • Appendix B: Detailed Budget Template; PHS398 Budget Pages (Page 4)
  • Appendix C: Carryforward Allocation Spreadsheet

The HMS Cost Transfer Process outlines the necessary steps for cost transfers at HMS. ORA's Research Finance Team reviews and approves both over 90-day cost transfers and under 90-day cost transfers. All department personnel should direct these to HMS_Research-Finance@hms.harvard.edu, Monday through Friday, 9:00 AM to 4:30 PM.

Answer these questions to determine if funding falls into the Sponsored Award Column or Gift Column. Unique circumstances may require deviations from this chart and can be decided by the Office of Research Administration, Office of Finance, and the Office of Alumni Affairs and Development.

Gift vs. Sponsored Award Determination Chart

The GMAS: Other Request Types is intended to provide guidance to departments on how to request certain changes on sponsored awards. In most cases, a formal GMAS Request is required, but not always. All of the requests in this document are handled by your Grants & Contracts Team representative in ORA. Department staff should always coordinate with their Grants & Contracts Team representative to ensure that appropriate approvals are sought from sponsors according to sponsor terms and conditions, and that appropriate ORA signoff is obtained for such requests to sponsors. For questions about this document, please contact your Grants & Contracts Team representative for further guidance.

The Outgoing Services Agreements Guidance is intended to help departments when they need to establish a services agreement with another party.

This Guidance on Preproposals identifies the criteria for which a preproposal must be entered into GMAS for review by ORA prior to submission to the sponsor. It also outlines the process for GMAS entry by department administrators.

The purpose of this Harvard Affiliates Guide for Requesting/Submitting NIH RPPR Materials is to standardize, among the Affiliates, the non-technical reporting requirements to alleviate the administrative burden placed on Subrecipients.

ORA has developed a process to automatically establish at-risk accounts for NIH awards in year logic (a new account or set of accounts is established for each budget period of the award). The term "streamlined" refers to the fact that ORA does not require the department to enter an at-risk account request in GMAS for these accounts to be set up.

Streamlined At-Risk Accounts Business Process