Horizons Newsletter – Spring 2026

Published May 7, 2026

MESSAGE FROM THE VICE PROVOST

Spring at UW always seems to have a special energy. Days are getting longer, the flowers bring appreciative visitors, and admissions notices bring excited prospective students. For research, there is no better reminder of how vibrant our community is than the annual Undergraduate Research Symposium, happening on May 15 this year – check it out!

Looking back on the year, we have had a lot of good news. Across all three campuses, several new centers and institutes were launched reflecting a variety of disciplines, and major center grants were renewed. All three campuses were each re-designated as a Carnegie Community-Engaged Campus. AI@UW launched with a generous gift from Charles and Lisa Simonyi, and AI computing is getting a boost with the support of a federal appropriation supported by Senator Murray and a new agreement with Microsoft. Clinical trials have begun for the first vaccine against the SARS virus family that builds on technology developed by SOM Profs. King and Veesler, and NASA chose STRIVE, a university-industry-government partnership led by CoEnv Prof. Jaegle, for the next generation satellite mission. We also learned that the UW Physics Muon g-2 team won the 2026 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics! I could go on….

While there is much to celebrate, we cannot ignore the very real challenges that we still face. The strong FY25 awards and expenditures reflect the momentum of success in prior years. In FY26, we are seeing the effects of federal policy changes and funding delays. FTE paid on federal sponsored research is down 20% relative to last year. Despite the modest cuts in the research budgets passed by Congress, new awards are down substantially, driven in part by the government shutdown and limited agency staffing. Further, increasing research regulations and new award terms make research more costly. At the same time, researchers are hampered by ongoing grant administration backlogs associated with processes that are unclear and not well optimized. Many of the administrative updates in this newsletter reflect this reality, and we’ve initiated efforts to provide a framework for pursuing the strategic objectives of Operation Excellence.

The need to build resiliency in research continues to be critical. So far, our efforts have included: expanding resources to support work with foundations and industry, creating a shared research facility website to raise awareness of resources, collaborating with UW IT to advance computing infrastructure, launching the Research Impact Advocates program, and charging task forces to assess and advise on improving research administration and operations. Ongoing work will build on the recommendations of the Provost’s Research Resilience & Transformation faculty advisory group.

More generally, we know from many of our successes that collaborations and partnerships (both internally and externally) are critical to resilience. Many of the new centers are a testament to our multi-disciplinary partnerships, including the Kren Engineering-Based Medicine Institute and the Paros Geohazard Center. We are also grateful to our external partners who are stepping up to support trainees, including the Moore Foundation for support of 16 postdocs in the sciences and industry partners Amazon and Microsoft for each supporting 10 graduate student fellowships. Our strong tri-campus partnership with PNNL (55 joint appointments and growing) enables new directions for advancing AI, quantum, and other disciplines.

We are fortunate to be in a region where there are many opportunities for cross-sector partnering with communities, industry, other research institutes, and foundations. I look forward to embracing the UW Strategic Plan objectives to expand and strengthen our partnerships as an important component of research resilience and innovation.

Mari Ostendorf
Vice Provost for Research

ADMINISTRATION

Research Security: Restricted Party Screening

Restricted Party Screening (RPS) is a step in which an entity or individual is checked against various federal restricted party lists. Restrictions range from strict prohibitions to requirements for an export license or certain mitigating steps. RPS is conducted across the University and is not just relevant to research activity. Other activities include the following when there is an international nexus: Procurement activity, providing services, entering an educational/academic agreement and licensing of intellectual property. The Research Security Office is setting times with units, Dean’s offices and central offices to train on use of Visual Compliance software (screening tool). A unit can request training by e-mailing researchsecurity@uw.edu.

Research Security: International Activity Assessment Process

The International Activity Assessment Process (IAAP) is required prior to undertaking UW activities when:

1) A party to the agreement/transaction is located or headquartered in, associated with the government of, 50% or more owned or controlled by, a contractor or employee for, or subject to the jurisdiction of one of the countries of concern:

  • China, including Hong Kong and Macau
  • Iran
  • North Korea
  • Russia
  • Belarus
  • Cuba
  • Venezuela
    OR …

2) There will be involvement by a foreign military, intelligence, security, or police organization; or a research organization affiliated with a foreign military, intelligence, security, or police organization (even if not associated with a country of concern).

Please use the IAAP intake form found on the Research Security Office website. If any questions, please contact researchsecurity@uw.edu.

Key Reminders: Foreign Involvement, Support or Interests

The NIH, as well as other federal sponsors, have policies related to Foreign Components, Current and Pending (Other) Support, and Financial Conflicts of Interest. Make sure to review these critical reminders about Foreign Involvement, Support or Interests if you manage federal proposals and awards.

Outside Work Form 1460 Updated

Form 1460 , used by faculty to seek approval to carry out  outside work , has undergone some minor changes that are intended to streamline the workflow. These changes have been designed to make the process easier for faculty, more efficient for departments, and compatible with automation tools used during the intake and approval process. New features include:

  • Cleaner layout and fonts meet readability requirements
  • Clearer submission instructions
  • Fields such as Employee ID, Visa, and Service Period have been clarified with tool tips and formatting updates
  • New dropdown menus standardize entries across unique fields
  • The updated read-only Max Days field now sets clear duration limits on requested activity, based on the entered FTE and Service Period
  • Signature fields now accommodate all reviewers within a single document
  • Viewer-dependent signature lines automatically populate dates
  • The Patent Assignment Agreement now has hyperlinks to the UW Policy Directory

There is also a new section that asks if the outside work will involve an international entity and/or travel (see  “international nexus” ).  We hope the updated form is easier to use and reduces administrative burden through automation and clearer process instructions.

SAGE: Overview of Recent Updates

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

  • Workday Award Details now display in Modification Requests (MODs), assisting users with confirming award information, onboarding staff, and preventing additional switches to Workday.
  • Guidance has been shared and added to SAGE for naming MOD budget periods to assist with the processing of MODs.
  • Filters on the SAGE Award List are now retained when users open requests in the same browser tab.
  • The Award Setup Request now has more data defaulted from the eGC1.

ORIS: Researcg Administration Data (RAD) Reports

ORIS’s RAD Group has released several pre-built reports at the BI Portal:

  • Applications for Sponsored Program Funding can be used to understand historical and active application rates.
  • Award Setup and Modification Requests provides visibility for campus into ASRs and MODS received by the Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) from FY2024 – present. It can be used for finding the status of ASR and MOD requests; understanding return reasons and trends; and analyzing trends in request volume by cost center, PI, or sponsor.
  • Award Activity by Cost Center – In Progress Requests shows award, modification, and subaward requests and related SAGE items that are in progress per award. It can be used for tracking the status of Award-related requests by PI(s) or Cost Center.
  • Subawards shows SAGE subaward requests received by OSP from FY2024 – present, and is helpful for tracking subaward status and analyzing trends.

PROPOSALS & AGREEMENTS GUIDANCE

Resources designed to help researchers identify project considerations and compliance requirements for proposals and agreements.

 

NEWS & EVENTS

The 2026 UW Undergraduate Research Symposium is May 15

The Office of Undergraduate Research invites you to the UW’s 29th Annual Undergraduate Research Symposium on May 15, 2026. More than 1,700 students from all three UW campuses and other local institutions will present their research across a wide range of disciplines, including oceanography, performing arts, physics, education, archaeology, molecular biology, and just about everything in between. This day-long celebration takes place at multiple locations across the UW Seattle campus, beginning with opening remarks from UW President Robert J. Jones and Vice Provost and Dean of Undergraduate Academic Affairs Ed Taylor in the MGH Commons at 11 a.m. Registration is recommended.

UW User Guides for Meeting Public Access Requirements for Federally Funded Research

Following recent federal requirements that researchers provide public access to research products, the Office of Research and the UW Libraries partnered to provide a set of ‘go-to’ resources to support researchers’ compliance with the new policies.  The “Public Access Policies for Federally Funded Research: Home”  user guide serves as a landing page that directs researchers towards specific federal agency requirements, background insights, a user guide for directions on complying with publication requirements and resources, and a user guide for directions on data sharing and management requirements and resources.  As federal regulations evolve, these guides will be kept up to date with information for UW researchers. NB: These new requirements should be kept in mind when preparing your grant applications and when planning your research activities and budgets!

AWARD SETUP, AWARD MODIFICATION AND ADVANCES TASKFORCE

The Vice Provost for Research charged a Taskforce comprised of grant managers, research administrators, OSP and GCA to assess the award setup process and identify opportunities for change to ease this process.  The Taskforce has issued a report to the Vice Provost for Research that includes initial recommendations.  These recommendations encompass process changes, change in roles and responsibilities, learning and communication ideas, SAGE system enhancements, customer service, and staffing.  The Taskforce continues to meet with a final report to be issued end of May.

AMANDA SNYDER NAMED DIRECTOR OF OFFICE OF SPONSORED PROGRAMS

The Office of Research is pleased to announce Amanda Snyder is the new OSP Director as of March 16th.  Amanda had previously been serving as Interim Director since January 1st. Amanda possesses a breadth of knowledge, with over 25 years’ experience in research administration.  She has been a key member of the UW Office of Sponsored Programs for 12 of those years, and brings a demonstrated collegial and practical approach to her work. We are excited to have Amanda in this leadership position.  Please join us in congratulating Amanda on her new role!

 

LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES

SAGE: Upcoming MOD Request Changes Demo and Q&A

To continue increasing processing efficiency of Modification Requests (MODs), SAGE will be expanding the SAGE-to-Workday integrations and releasing significant updates to MODs in May.  As part of the May 14 MRAM, GCA and ORIS will demo Modification Request changes in SAGE, including how to enter an accurate carryover/offset amount, select a related grant worktag, and name SAGE Budget periods. A subscription to the MRAM mailing list is required to join the demo. The demo will also be recorded.

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

CORE: Compliance Case Studies Class

CORE’s annual course “Compliance Case Studies: FCOI, Export Controls, Research Security and Research Integrity” is scheduled for June 23. Directors of compliance offices will present content and context for decisions a grant manager may need to make throughout the research project lifecycle. This course offers a framework for understanding and tracking requirements, recognizing issues when they come up, and ideas about how to troubleshoot. Register for the course (June 23, 9:30am).

Other upcoming CORE courses:

Responsible Conduct of Reseach: Biomedical Research Integrity Training

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.