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UW Research

Horizons Newsletter – February 2026

Published February 10, 2026

A Message from the Vice Provost

The calendar year has started with some positive news for research. Congress passed FY26 funding bills avoiding deep cuts to education and to agencies such as NIH, NSF, DOE and NOAA that are important supporters of academic research. In addition, the bills include language that would protect indirect cost rates from arbitrary changes by federal agencies. The Washington State delegation supported UW in many ways, including $10M in congressionally directed spending to support computing infrastructure for AI research and education on all three campuses, secured by Senator Murray. Our work with Foundations continues to be strong, with the latest good news that the Gordon & Betty Moore Foundation is funding 16 postdoctoral fellows in a variety of scientific fields spanning 14 departments, one of 30 such awards made nationwide. And all three UW campuses were recognized last month with the Carnegie Foundation Community Engagement reclassification, reflecting the university’s commitment to working with communities to achieve meaningful impact of research for society.

We celebrate the good news in full recognition of the challenges remaining. Shifts in federal policies and priorities are having negative impacts on important research areas at UW, underscoring the importance of UW’s efforts toward research resilience. While we are protected from arbitrary indirect cost rate reductions for now, it is clear that there is a demand for change in the federal indirect cost model that we should be planning for. Internally, while UW made good progress in addressing Workday challenges in award processing over the past year with AIDE, ongoing effort is needed. The Office of Research is actively exploring options for further reducing turnaround times.

I’d like to highlight a few new and ongoing Office of Research resilience initiatives. In December, we launched a new Shared Research Facilities & Resources website, with the goal of making shared infrastructure more visible to researchers within UW as well as external partners. Adam Wojno, Assistant Vice Provost for Shared Research Facilities, is available to work with facility directors to promote their facilities on campus and connect with external partners. We also launched our pilot Research Impact Advocates program, aimed at supporting faculty who are interested in engaging with the public in how research impacts so many aspects of people’s lives and well-being. You’ll learn more about these efforts in this newsletter. In addition, we’ve been collaborating with Advancement and CoMotion on making it easier for researchers to work with industry – look for an announcement of an upcoming workshop soon.

A time of change offers opportunities for improvements. I welcome your ideas as we work to keep the UW research enterprise strong and communicate the many forms of our research impact.

Mari Ostendorf
Vice Provost for Research

 

NEWS & EVENTS

The Research Impact Advocates Program

The Office of Research is proud to introduce the new Research Impact Advocates, a program which provides training and support for 20 faculty researchers and scholars who want to engage more effectively with the public about their work and the evidence behind it. The participants in the inaugural 2025 cohort represent 13 colleges and schools, across all three UW campuses and from all stages of research careers. They will receive a three-part training from the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science, a two-day workshop with The Op‑Ed Project, and media training with UW News.

 

Shared Research Facilities Directory Launched

The new UW Shared Research Facilities Directory is an online resource that gives both UW and external researchers the ability to identify and access the shared research facilities, equipment, and services essential to their work. The directory is just one part of the Office of Research’s Shared Research Facilities Initiative, a collaborative effort to promote and connect the expertise and infrastructure of the UW shared research facilities community with internal partners and external clients.

 

Joe Giffels Retires from UW Office of Research

After more than four decades of service in the field of research administration and compliance, Joe Giffels, Senior Associate Vice Provost for Research Administration and Integrity, retired from the UW Office of Research on February 2. Over his 13-year tenure at the University of Washington, Joe has been instrumental in strengthening the processes, policies, and systems which support the research enterprise and advance responsible, service-oriented research administration across the UW Campuses. The Office of Research extends its sincere appreciation to Joe for his distinguished service and dedication, and wishes him the very best in his retirement.

 

Welcome Assistant Vice Provosts Mandy Morneault and Carol Rhodes

Joe Giffels’ departure brings changes to the leadership structure in the Office of Research with the appointment of Mandy Morneault to Assistant Vice Provost for Research Integrity and Carol Rhodes to Assistant Vice Provost for Research Administration and Compliance. The promotion of these two long-serving leaders within the Office of Research to the executive leadership team ensures the continuity of experienced oversight for these critical research functions.

 

ADMINISTRATION

Restricted Research

Projects that will be handling Restricted Access Data, which can include federal contract information (FCI), or controlled unclassified information (CUI), will need an IT environment with certain security standards. Please see UW-IT Computing for Restricted Access Data for more information on new IT options. For sponsored programs, please obtain the UW-IT Director Feasibility Memo before submitting your proposal.

Proposal and Agreement Guidance Updates

New & updated resources designed to help researchers identify project considerations and compliance requirements for proposals and agreements.

SAGE: Overview of Recent SAGE Updates

Review past and upcoming SAGE updates on the SAGE Release Calendar. Recent feedback-driven updates include:

  • Modification Request (MOD) budget connection updates to streamline MOD preparation
  • Hold indicators for items in the Award Requests List, helping understand item status at a glance
  • Required eGC1 compliance question changes
  • Option for SAGE Budget to calculate on command, offering a new way to manage creating or updating a budget
  • Additional performance improvements

Research Misconduct Policy Updated

As of January 1st, 2026, the Executive Order No. 61, “Research Misconduct” has been updated to comply with revised federal regulations. Please contact the Office of Research Misconduct Proceedings at ormp@uw.edu if you have questions about this policy.

Royalty Research Fund Proposals Due March 2, 2026

The Office of Research invites applications for the next round of the Royalty Research Fund (RRF) grant program. Proposals are due to RRF by Monday, March 2, at 5:00 PM. Departments and Colleges/Schools may have earlier deadlines, so all applicants are advised to check with their program’s administrative staff. Awards will be announced by June 15, 2026.

Funding Opportunity Resources

UW researchers are encouraged to visit the Limited Submissions Opportunities page for a list of upcoming funding opportunities and to learn to navigate the application process in a recorded information session featuring Cecilia Giachelli, Associate Vice Provost for Research and Lene Hansen, Director of Foundation Relations. UW researchers can also search current corporate and foundations funding opportunities through a dashboard developed by the UW Corporate & Foundation Relations team.

 

 

LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES

SAGE: EGC1 Video & SAGE-Workday Object Code Crosswalk Now Available

The 13-minute eGC1 PI, Personnel & Organizations video provides guidance on how to fill out that section. The Object Code to Object Class Mapping Crosswalk in Excel helps you translate legacy FAS object and sub-object codes into Workday classifications.

CORE: Research Administration Training

Visit the CORE research administration learning schedule to find and register for courses. Be sure to encourage new staff and colleagues working in the grants space to take advantage of these free courses, many of which are on-demand and available 24/7. Upcoming live classes:

MRAM: Monthly Research Administration Meeting

MRAM is the Monthly Research Administration Meeting open to all UW staff interested in research award administration. Meetings are jointly hosted by Office of Sponsored Programs and Sponsored Programs Finance. Subscribe to MRAM for:

  • Breaking news and information on award regulations and management at the UW
  • Meeting reminders with link to join just before the meeting
  • Post meeting Q&A and links to presentation materials

COPRA: Community of Practice for Research Administrators

Research administrators and award management staff are invited to join the Community of Practice for Research Administrators (CoPRA), a tri-campus community led by UW research admins to learn, share, and help build a new knowledge base for the complex and rewarding work of award management. Join the CoPRA group at the upcoming meeting on Feb. 19, and visit the CoPRA Teams channel for online knowledge sharing and discussion.

GMI: Grants Management for Investigators

The CORE team has just published the updated Grants Management for Investigators (GMI) Orientation and Refresher courses to reflect recent changes in sponsored program policy. All UW principal investigators (faculty and non-faculty) who apply for or receive externally funded grants or contracts are required to attend an initial 2-hour orientation, with a 40 minute on-demand refresher every four years thereafter.

BRI: Biomedical Research Integrity Program

If you are an NIH-funded researcher in need of “Responsible Conduct of Research” training, register for the September 10, 2026, session. You can fulfill the requirement on a single day or over a four-year period. See the Biomedical Research Integrity webpage for the schedule through 2030 and training transcripts