As part of the University's presidential search, Harvard Chan School staff can share their thoughts on Harvard's next president. The Harvard Chan Office of the Dean welcomes staff to share any written feedback, directly to the Presidential Search Committee, by email to psearch@harvard.edu or by submitting your responses to these questions. Read more about Presidential Search Feedback

With the start of November, the holiday season will soon be upon us. SPA would like to remind grant administrators that the upcoming holidays will alter our work schedule. Plan ahead to avoid missing the SPA Internal Proposal Deadlines ...

Read more about SPA Holiday Internal Proposal Deadlines

The September issue of the Harvard e-News is now available. Harvard's Financial Administration Department publishes this monthly electronic newsletter for users of the University's administrative systems. They welcome questions and suggestions (admin_systems_enews@harvard.edu); if your questions are of general interest, they'll answer them in future issues.

The Research Administration Portal was updated on October 5 (see full release notes). Some highlights of the recent update include:

• Researchers are now able to select delegates who can view their To-Do items and project information
• The To-Do List includes incomplete courses from the Harvard Training Portal
• Researchers are able to access their Other Support and Activities report from the Portal

... Read more about Research Administration Portal Updates

The University released its FY 2022 Annual Financial Report. It provides insight on Harvard’s priorities. Also, read the Harvard Gazette interview with Meredith Weenick, Executive Vice President, and Tom Hollister, Chief Financial Officer and Vice President for Finance.

The Office of Research Strategy and Development’s Proposal Toolkit has been re-launched in a new format. This resource was designed to help investigators find important information meant to support proposal development and funding strategies. Examples of information listed on the website include sample letters of support and other non-disciplinary grant templates, NIH paylines and research priorities, as well as HSPH-specific policies and processes. Faculty, research... Read more about ORSD’s Proposal Toolkit: New and Improved

Join the ECRT Group in HTP to Access More Resources

There...

Read more about HCSRA Hint: Join the ECRT Group in HTP to Access More Resources

The Office of Research Strategy and Development (ORSD) coordinates all letters of institutional support that are to be signed by the Dean’s Office (Michelle Williams, Dean of the Faculty), including letters of institutional commitment, which are used for all training and Center grants that will provide graduate student support. ORSD enhances and strengthens the language used in the letters and, upon request, can provide template language to assist in drafting letters.

ORSD may monetize resources (financial support, effort support, and... Read more about Reminder: Institutional Letters of Support Signed by the Dean

Individuals renting cars for Harvard-related business should use one of our preferred rental car vendors (Enterprise, National, or Hertz) since they include the required insurance coverages for domestic rentals. Insurance must be purchased for international rentals or for rentals done through a non-preferred vendor. Travelers must get insurance for rental cars in accordance with the Rental Car...

Read more about Reminder: Rental Car Insurance Requirements for Travelers

European Research Council has released its funding opportunity for Synergy Grants 2023, due November 8, 2022, at 17:00 Brussels time (due on October 31, 2022, for school-level and Harvard Global review). This is the only ERC funding mechanism that allows one of the PIs to be based at a US host institution. All ERC Synergy Principal Investigators, whether EU-based or US-based, are required to devote a minimum of 30% effort (including summer months, total working time) to the project. You may find more information for applicants in the ... Read more about European Commission/Horizon Europe Upcoming Proposal Deadlines: ERC Synergy Grants

The new PeopleSoft Organization Chart functionality is now available to all SPH employees. The goal is to reduce manual effort in creating an org chart for departments and units. To access the org chart, click on the ‘Organization Chart’ tile on your PeopleSoft Homepage.

For detailed instructions, refer to HR's Org Chart Instructions. If changes need to be made, you could make the necessary changes using the instructions on... Read more about New PeopleSoft Org Chart Feature

The University has released the following notice regarding the shipping of computers and lithium batteries. This notice applies to anyone who ships computers from Harvard, regardless of shipping method:

A maximum of two computers are allowed in one package per federal lithium battery shipment regulations. If you are shipping three or more computers in one box or one or more computers internationally, please contact Environmental Health and Safety at ...

Read more about University's Update on Shipping Computers & Lithium Batteries

The Oracle FedEx portal will be decommissioned on November 1, 2022. Learn more about Oracle FedEx shipments.

Harvard University will transition to a new enhanced express shipping platform, eShipGlobal. It offers comprehensive online tools for shippers and facilitates compliance with regulatory guidelines. The eShipGlobal ... Read more about Harvard University's eShipGlobal Service

Review Period: 8/31/2022 - 9/20/2022
Certification Period: 9/21/2022 - 10/20/2022

Prior Approvals: Please keep the originally committed effort in mind when reviewing certifications for any personnel listed on NIH award letters that require prior approval to reduce effort by 25% or greater.

Proxy Approval Form: A proxy approval...

Read more about FY22 Q4 Quarterly Project Certifications & FY22 Annual Effort Certifications due October 20, 2022

Effective September 22, 2022, Harvard will replace the term “Person of Interest” (POI)—used to describe roles that grant individuals temporary access to the University’s digital and physical resources for administrative or scholarly purposes—with a new term, “Harvard Sponsored Role.” 

What is changing?

All references to “Person of Interest” (POI) have been updated to “Harvard Sponsored Role”. Please note that this term refers to individuals with temporary...

Read more about New Term for POIs -> "Harvard Sponsored Role"