RA Essentials Job Aid - People


The Sponsored Projects Lifecycle

The sponsored projects lifecycle is the life of the project from inception (identifying the opportunity) to closing out the award (closeout). The stages of the lifecycle can be divided into two main categories: pre-award and post-award.

Sponsored Projects Offices (SPOs)

What is a Sponsored Project Office, or SPO? The role of the UCSD SPOs is to serve the research community with expertise in support of sponsored research proposal and award administration. The SPOs are responsible for the stewardship of sponsored research and research collaborations. They review and authorize proposals for submission as well as interpret, negotiate and accept contracts and grants for sponsored projects funded by government agencies, nonprofit, industry and other public and private sources.

The Role of the Fund Manager

As a fund manager, you will interact with various people and offices that support and manage sponsored projects throughout the project lifecycle.

UCSD Sponsored Project Offices (SPOs)

There are four SPOs at UC San Diego:

OCGA handles pre-award and post-award for general campus, as well as post-award for Health Sciences.

HS SPPO handles pre-award and submits only NIH and AHRQ grants, subaward grants and fellowship proposals on behalf of the Health Sciences department.

SIO OCGA serves as the administrative liaison for activities related to Scripps research, contracts, grants and other transaction agreements funded by federal, state and private agencies.

OCTA handles all industry-initiated, industry-funded clinical trials. OCTA is in VC Health Sciences. (Note: PI-initiated and non-NIH federally funded clinical trials are handled by OCGA.)

Other Offices

Office of Research Affairs (ORA)

The ORA supports, facilitates and promotes research at UC San Diego by optimizing services to compete for and win grants, speeding UCSD discoveries to the marketplace, building research collaborations and partnerships with industry and other institutions, supporting the next generation of researchers in our classrooms and labs, and continuous improvement of administrative and regulatory systems, and processes to manage risk.

The ORA oversees or supports many offices related to sponsored research including, but not limited to, Innovation & Commercialization (OIC), Conflict of Interest (COI), Organized Research Units (ORUs), and Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC). Their website has links to many research-related offices.

Research Proposal Development Service (RPDS) The Research Proposal Development Service (RPDS) is UC San Diego’s central research-development unit, housed within the Office of Research Affairs. They help faculty write more competitive and compelling proposals. In addition, they have a resource library with job aids for creating strong proposals.

Compliance Offices

There are four core offices of the Research Compliance and Integrity Program.

Other Compliance Offices

Other Offices

Key Personnel Offices

People on the Proposal: Senior Key Personnel

People on the Proposal: Other Personnel

Award: Financial

Award: Contractual