SAGE System to Administer Grants Electronically

We hope you’ll find this high-level overview of the research grant process here at the University of Washington (UW) useful. We’ve included pointers to a variety of resources for tools, training, and assistance.

Key Research Administration Offices

• Office of Research Central (ORC) oversees the research process.
• Office of Research Information Services (ORIS) creates online tools (SAGE, MyResearch) which make it easier to process research grant proposals.
• Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) reviews, negotiates, approves, and provides administrative oversight related to proposals and establishment of awards in accordance with all applicable policies and regulations.
• Human Subjects Division (HSD) manages Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) that oversee human subject research.
• Grant and Contract Accounting (GCA) helps set up budgets for grants, contracts and gifts in the Workday Financial system. GCA is a unit within Finance & Facilities’ Office of Financial Management.
• CoMotion works with researchers to deliver innovations to the right markets, providing the opportunities for recognition, distribution and utilization of the work to its full potential.

Simplified MyResearch Project Lifecycle

The Lifecycle represents all activities typically involved in a research project. The activities may be programmatic (scientific) or administrative in nature, or both. They begin with forming a hypothesis or research question; conclude with final financial reports and scientific publications. In most cases, a new research project begins its Lifecycle based on a hypothesis or question developed from the results of a previous project. Grants typically follow four major phases:

• Plan and Propose from the development of a sponsored research project to final proposal submission.
• Setup the infrastructure for successful management of your award.
• Manage award funds, reporting, and post-award changes.
• Closeout the final financial and research reporting, dissemination of data, and records retention.

UW’s Online Grant Tools

• MyResearch is a web-based tool designed to assist you in your research administration activities. It currently includes two major features: Funding Status and Training Transcript.
• SAGE (System to Administer Grants Electronically) is the web-based system used by faculty, administrators and staff to submit funding applications for consideration, route them electronically for approval, request advance budget numbers, and initiate subawards. SAGE also includes: SAGE Budget, Grant Runner, Approvals, Advances and Subawards.
• FIDS (Financial Interest Disclosure System) is a web-based tool that investigators use to electronically submit their Significant Financial Interest (SFI) disclosures.
• AUMS (Animal Use Medical Screening) is an online tool which researchers who work with animals use to request an evaluation for potential health risks.

Training

• CORE, the Collaborative for Research Education, presents regularly-scheduled trainings to help faculty and administrators expand their skill sets and build research programs. Courses are free of charge, and new courses are added frequently. The program is developed collaboratively with central offices and volunteers, and taught by subject matter experts. You can earn a certificate in Research Administration.

• SAGE System Training
  • In collaboration with CORE, ORIS offers courses that train UW researchers and administrators on how to use the SAGE system for grant proposal submissions and financial disclosures. These include:
  • SAGE: Creating and Submitting eGC1s – Course offered quarterly
  • SAGE Budget – Course offered quarterly
  • SAGE: Creating NIH Proposals in Grant Runner – Course offered quarterly
  • FIDS: Disclosing Financial Interests – Course offered intermittently in response to demand
• Required Training
  • You can use the Required Training tool to identify which trainings are required for researchers to comply with external sponsor and internal requirements and/or reduce risk to the researcher. The trainings that an investigator will be required to take depends on what their research involves, such as Animal Subjects, Clinical Research, HIPAA and others.

Other Resources

• UW Research
  • Visit the Research Website to find a hub of information and links for researchers and administrators. Find links to compliance and support offices along with funding opportunities.
• MRAM (Monthly Research Administrators Meeting)
  • MRAM is the main forum for communicating new information about grant tools, policies, compliance issues, and procedures. Join their mailing list and attend their meetings virtually or in person.
• ORIS News
  • Learn about updates to grant systems and ORIS’s latest developments. To subscribe, visit the News signup page.
• Glossary
  • Learn some common terms and acronyms used in grants administration at the UW.
• SAGE User Guides
  • Find detailed information on how to use SAGE, SAGE Budget, Grant Runner, Approvals, Advances and Subawards. This information is available contextually from within SAGE by clicking on a help question-mark icon link.
• FIDS User Guide
  • Learn how and when to use FIDS. This information is available contextually from within FIDS by clicking on a help question-mark icon link.

Contacts

• For more information about UW online grant systems, contact sagehelp@uw.edu.
• For pre-award questions, go to the Contact OSP page to find the person for your business unit.
• For post-award questions, contact GCA at gcahelp@uw.edu.