Overview
Research administration is a field that is both wide and deep, especially at a large public university such as UC San Diego. Finding the tools that you need when you need them is imperative, but that is often easier said than done, especially with a system as vast as Blink.
The tools are aligned with the UC San Diego Sponsored Projects Lifecycle. It is by no means an exhaustive list, but is rather a curated list of links to assist fund managers who are new to UC San Diego and/or research administration by giving them the tools needed for proposal development and fund management.
The Sponsored Projects Lifecycle
Tips and Tricks for working with Blink
Blink is the UC San Diego search engine. Here are some tips to make it less overwhelming and more user-friendly.
Blink Home Page
1) At the very top of the screen, you can find a link to the Covid-19 updates including a link to the Return-to Learn page that has information on all Covid-19-related operations.
2) You can now check System Status right on the homepage which is helpful if you are experiencing any issues with one of the internal UCSD systems. In addition, you can check system status here https://status.ucsd.edu/.
3) Use the Search fields that are located either at the top right side of the main Blink page or in the middle of the home screen to search for anything related to UCSD, Health Sciences, etc. To look up a faculty or staff member in the UCSD Address Book, use the “Search Faculty/Staff” field at the top right corner of the main blink page to search for UC San Diego employees.
4) If you continue down the screen, it takes you to News & Announcements, which lists things from across all campus units. And finally,
5) Events—you can see what is coming up in the next few days or weeks.
There are two toolbar ribbons at the top of the page. The first one in the lighter blue color has quick access to common links for each of those headings. If you hover your mouse over one of the headings, you will get an expanded drop-down menu for each category.
The second toolbar in dark blue, labeled Tools, has quick links to personal, business, instruction, and research tools.
On the Personal Tools dropdown tab, there are links to UC Learning and UCPath for example, and on the Business tab, there are useful links to Service & Support, OFC, CAMS, EcoTime, and SPARCM.
MyBlink
MyBlink is an internal bookmarking system within Blink that allows you to save internal and external favorite websites. Setting it up is easy and it then allows you to have your favorites accessible regardless of which browser you use.
Setting up MyBlink
On the main Blink home page, scroll down to the bottom of the page to ‘Activate MyBlink’ and click on the blue button. After logging in with your SSO credentials, it will take you to MyBlink where you can either set up your account or make changes to your existing account. You can add links, both internal UCSD links as well as external sites. You can title them whatever you like (up to 20 characters) and then add the URL.
Notice that the first eight links listed will show up on the Blink homepage. You can move links around so your favorites are always listed first. To find the rest, scroll down through your list on the MyBlink page.
Contacts
You can find additional contact information at the bottom of most Blink pages. Scroll down until you see a gray ribbon across the bottom of the page or a small box on the lower-right hand side of the page.
General Information Across the Lifecycle Tools
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Category |
Name/Link |
Description |
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General: Entire Lifecycle |
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Learn about Blink, an online source of information, training and tools for UC San Diego faculty and staff.
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General: Entire Lifecycle |
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Link to applications, programs, databases and other electronic tools for UC San Diego staff and faculty |
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General: Preparation Checklists |
View and print Preparation Checklists for new Research Administrators/Fund Managers. The checklists in this section will assist you in identifying resources and webpages to assist Research Administrators and Fund Managers with their responsibilities. | |
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General: Entire Lifecycle |
Main Research page with links to all departments, tools and updates. | |
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General: Vocabulary & Terms
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Main Research page with links to all departments, tools and updates.
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General: Vocabulary & Terms |
A glossary of frequently used terms in research administration. | |
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General: Vocabulary & Terms
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Glossary of Budget and Planning Terms (PDF)
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Find the meanings for acronyms and abbreviations used at UCSD. |
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Training Grants |
Research Service Core (RSC) pre- and post-award information on training grants. From the RSC site, under “Links to RSC” click on “Training Grant Site.” Login required. | |
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RA Training |
Supporting the training, education and development of UC San Diego Research Administrators. Includes a calendar of upcoming training opportunities. | |
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Develop and Submit Proposals: Research
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Main information page for Research at UCSD.
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Develop and Submit Proposals: OCGA |
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Website for the Office of Contracts and Grants (OCGA). |
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Develop and Submit Proposals: OCGA
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You can find links to the Research Knowledge Base, the UCSD Services & Support Portal, the Client Experience Team as well as the newly launched Research Administration Activity Dashboard, which can also be accessed through BAH.ucsd.edu. | |
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Develop and Submit Proposals: OCGA |
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Links to OCGA’s partners in research administration |
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Develop and Submit Proposals: OCGA/Training |
Find information for submitting Kuali Research records for clinical trials including the SPO Matrix for which office to contact depending on the nature of the proposal. | |
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Develop and Submit Proposals: Health Sciences |
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Office of Clinical Trials (OCTA) website.
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Develop and Submit Proposals: Health Sciences |
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Health Sciences Sponsored Project Pre-Award Office website.
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Develop and Submit Proposals: Scripps Institute of Oceanography (SIO) |
SIO OCGA’s website. | |
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UCPath Training |
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Video of terminology in UCPath for people and systems. |
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UCPath Training |
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Resources and help (job aids, training environment, etc.) for UCPath Transactors. |
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Services & Support |
Services & Support Knowledge Base
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Knowledge-based articles that answer questions on common business processes and system issues. |
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Finance Office Hours |
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Informal sessions where personnel from Business and Financial Services and department volunteers are available to assist users who have access to our finance systems. |
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Research Administration Resources |
Research Administration Resources
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Supporting the training, education and development of UC San Diego Research Administrators. Includes links to checklists and a calendar of upcoming training opportunities. |
Pre-Award: Develop and Submit Proposal Tools
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Category |
Name/Link |
Description |
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Proposal Development: Kuali Research |
Information about access, training and support with the Kuali Research contract and grant system. | |
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Proposal Development: Kuali Research |
KR login page. | |
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Proposal Development: Kuali Research Subawards |
Learn about outdoing subaward guidelines and how to get started with a new subaward request. | |
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Proposal Development: WalkMe
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WalkMe augments training by adding in-system on-demand help when you need it. | |
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General: OCGA Service Line Definitions |
Find detailed descriptions of OCGA Proposal and Award Service Lines assigned to Contract Officer roles. | |
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Develop and Submit Proposals: Scripps Institute of Oceanography (SIO) |
SIO OCGA’s staff assignments. | |
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Proposal Development: Indirect Costs |
Information about indirect costs on sponsored research projects | |
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Proposal Development: UCSD Institutional Information |
Find vital UC San Diego institutional information and codes for filling out OCGA forms. | |
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Proposal Development: Vendor Set-up for UCSD |
Find information on completing vendor forms and setting up UCSD in a sponsor's system. | |
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Proposal Development: Service Agreements |
Learn how to request a UCSD-provided Service Agreement for a non-research project where a client will pay UCSD for services. | |
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Proposal Development: Health Sciences |
Health Sciences Service Agreements for School of Medicine and School of Pharmacy. | |
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Proposal Development: General |
Proposal submission deadlines for all proposals submitted to OCGA. | |
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Proposal Development: HSSPPO |
Proposal submission deadlines for all proposals submitted to HSSPPO. | |
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Proposal Development: Cost-Sharing |
Find links to information you need to understand for cost sharing on sponsored projects, and guidelines for using the Cost Sharing System (CCS). | |
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Proposal Development: Subawards |
List of Participating Organizations in the Federal Demonstration Partnership (FDP) Expanded Clearinghouse initiative. | |
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Proposal Development: PI Exception (PIE) |
Learn about the PI Eligibility OnBase Transition. |
Just-in-Time and Advanced Spending Request Tools
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Category |
Name/Link |
Description |
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Just-in-Time |
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The Just-in-Time (JIT) feature of the eRA Commons is available for applications that meet established business criteria and fall within a certain percentile or priority scoring range. |
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Advanced Spending Request |
Find answers to common questions about advance spending requests. |
UCSD Wellness Tools
While it is important to have the tools for your job, it is also important to utilize the tools available to you for our own health and wellness so that you can optimize your well-being and job performance.
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Category |
Name/Link |
Description |
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Wellness |
Information about The Playground and links to live virtual and pre-recorded fitness classes. Free. | |
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Wellness |
Blog for Health Sciences employees with information about wellness programs including virtual fitness classes. Free. | |
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Wellness |
The Faculty and Staff Assistance Program is a confidential service designed to help campus employees and the members of their immediate household resolve concerns that may be affecting personal well-being and/or job performance. Free for employees. |