UMD BRAKE Research Administration Training Team Visits Israel to Deliver Workshops

UMD BRAKE Research Administration Training Team Visits Israel to Deliver Workshops

The University of Maryland Borderless Research Administration Knowledge Exchange (BRAKE) program staff traveled to Israel to give on-site training seminars to research administration staff in June 2019.

The UMD BRAKE program engages international institutions as strategic cohorts, providing administrative training that concentrates on building expertise and collaboration in the management and oversight of U.S. federal funding. This unique, proactive approach to building international research partnerships focuses on sharing knowledge and streamlining administrative functions. These efforts are intended to facilitate research collaborations by reducing administrative obstacles for researchers, while simultaneously advancing UMD's international reputation and status as a top tier global research institution. BRAKE helps encourage joint proposals, research administration knowledge sharing, and researcher exchange programs with international partners.

The UMD BRAKE team provides face-to-face training for international partners in the following areas:

• U.S. Compliance and Uniform Guidance
• Responsible Conduct of Research
• Research Administration Organization
• Foreign Applications to NIH
• Aspiring to be in Senior Leadership in Research Administration

In Israel, 42 staff members participated in the BRAKE sessions, which focused on Uniform Guidance, both Pre-Award and Post-Award.

The Pre-Award workshop gives participants insights into the process of applying for US federal funding and focuses on the corresponding sections of the Uniform Guidance. These topics include, federal funding opportunity requirements, budgeting for allowability of costs, establishing an institutional framework to receive federal funds, risk assessment processes, financial and technical reporting requirements and subrecipient guidelines.

The Post-Award workshop topics include federal funding cost principles and associated internal control requirements, budgeting for allowability of costs, establishing an institutional framework to comply with the receipt and management of federal funds and audit requirements, post award risk assessment processes, financial and technical reporting requirements and subrecipient monitoring.

"Ann [Holmes] and Denise [Clark] are a dynamic team, rendering what could be a very bland topic into a stimulating discussion,” said Chaya Moykopf, Grants Administrator at Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel. “[The BRAKE team] sheds light on issues we face daily, bringing expert guidance."

UMD’s BRAKE program has trained nearly 1,500 faculty and staff across 18 countries and 6 continents. To learn more about BRAKE, visit: https://research.umd.edu/international.

June 17, 2019