Grants Administration

Grants Management

FRI fulfills a specialized, unique role in advancing scientific research.

Simply stated: FRI handles the bureaucracy

In managing all of the ‘back-office’ functions of grants administration, beginning with the pre-award process through completion of the research project, FRI allows scientists to focus on their research. This division of labor relieves them of the necessary, but extremely time-consuming, work of grants management and allows them to concentrate on their science.

FRI’s involvement and provision of services begin as early as the pre-award process. We offer assistance to the Principal Investigator that includes:

• Preparing and justifying the budget
• Typing and formatting the protocol for submission
• Assembling and delivering the grant to the appropriate agency on time

Once an award is made, post-award administration becomes the responsibility of FRI as the grantee institution. Our sound management practices ensure that program objectives are met and that project funds are disbursed in accordance with regulations.

FRI’s successful history of grants management has always depended on our ability to build and maintain productive and respectful professional relationships with investigators and by offering such services as:

• Budgeting and budget modifications
• Applications for extensions
• Monthly expense reports for all current projects
• Up-to-the-minute accurate balance information, available daily, accessible via phone or email
• Recruiting, interviewing, hiring, orienting, discharging personnel
• Providing employee benefits
• Progress report monitoring
• Accountability for use of funds
• Timely and accurate Financial Status Reports (FSRs)
• Submission of continuation applications for future years’ funding
• Keeping abreast of changes at NIH
• Providing public information regarding the objectives, methodologies, and findings of the research
• State, local, federal tax filing
• Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) requirements
• Data analysis
• Clerical support

We also ensure compliance with all federal, state and professional regulations as well as public policy requirements such as civil rights (age and gender discrimination, the Rehabilitation Act, etc. ), the protection of human research participants, scientific misconduct, requirements for drug-free workplaces and debarment and suspension.

Once a research project is concluded, FRI makes certain that timely reports are submitted and that real property, equipment and supplies are disposed of.

In addition:

• FRI has an excellent working relationship with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) including the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and other health organizations, public and private.
• FRI has experience and expertise in creating, organizing and overseeing the requirements of federal grants applications and budgets.

While our work is tailored to the specific requirements of each grant, some characteristics are typical of all FRI’s services:

• Personalized
• Efficient
• Cost effective
• Professional

These are FRI’s hallmarks…the cornerstones of our work for decades.