STRIVE Tiered Program equips research administrators to thrive in dynamic careers

Sponsored by the Carolina Grants and Innovation Hub, the STRIVE Tiered Program just wrapped up its inaugural year of providing holistic training for early-career, management-level and senior professionals in research administration. Within the STRIVE program, research administrators explored university policies, develop fundamental competencies, prepare for the Certified Research Administrator Exam or grow in operational efficiency and leadership.  We spoke to three research administrators, Michal Smith (STRIVE Discovery), Victoria Costello (STRIVE Management) and Janie Godbold (STRIVE Senior) to learn more about their experiences as members of the first STRIVE cohort.

Research administrators can author their own success stories by joining the 2025-2026 STRIVE Tiered Program cohort. Registration is open through Friday, August 1, 2025. Learn more about what STRIVE has to offer and register today.

 

Attention IRB Users: No new submissions or amendments July 14-27, 2025

With the upcoming conversion to the new eIRB platform developed and implemented by Huron Consulting Services no new submissions or amendments will be accepted after Monday, July 14, 2025. All new applications and/or amendments can be submitted once the new system is live on Monday, July 28, 2025. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the implementation process, please contact Lisa Johnson at lisaj@mailbox.sc.edu. We trust this brief gap will not hamper your research or the efficient review you are accustomed to.

 

Scholars in Health and Alzheimer’s Research Engagement (SHARE) seeks pilot grant research proposals

The mission of SHARE is to enhance an Alzheimer’s and related dementias (ADRD) research workforce and strengthen the science on non-medical drivers of health and best practices in aging and ADRD. SHARE’s National-Institute of Aging-funded pilot project program will provide monetary, curricular and mentorship support to early-career faculty members to advance ADRD research in community engagement, health communication and implementation science through a holistic and interdisciplinary approach. In this inaugural year, SHARE will accept up to three (3) faculty scholars. Check out the call for proposals to learn more—letters of intent are due by Friday, August 1, 2025. 

 

Propel Research Mentorship Program introduces two new tracks for the 2025-2026 cohort

Research Training and Education Services (RTES) is excited to announce two new Propel Mentorship tracks for the 2025-2026 cycle, focused on NSF CAREER and Department of Energy grants. These tracks will be provided alongside the existing National Institutes of Health (NIH) and National Science Foundation (NSF) offerings. The NSF CAREER track replaces the NSF CAREER Bootcamp and offers a refreshed experience tailored to both resubmissions and first-time CAREER applicants. RTES is now accepting 2025-2026 Propel applications, which are due by Sunday, August 3, 2025.

The Propel Research Mentorship Program is designed to support faculty members who are new to the federal grants application process or have had success in securing relatively small grant awards and are ready to apply for an R01 grant from the NIH, a relatively large grant from the NSF, an NSF CAREER award or a DOE grant. Program activities for the 2025-2026 Propel class will run from August 22 through May 1, 2026, and participants will submit their proposals no later than June 2026.

 

Research Security Spotlight: What is the best way to get up to speed on research security?

At a Carnegie tier-one research institution like USC, faculty juggle many responsibilities. It can be difficult for busy researchers to keep up with the ever-evolving research security landscape and make sure they have completed all the training required by federal agencies that fund their work. Fortunately, the Office of Research Security has recently begun to offer streamlined security training through the CITI Program platform, allowing covered researchers to complete required annual research security training in about one hour. Here is everything you need to know to make sure you are up to speed with research security training:

• Faculty, students, postdocs, staff and affiliate scholars who are considered covered individuals on a federally funded research project must complete the one-hour Research Security Training course on the CITI Program platform. Check out the Research Security Training page to determine if you are considered a covered individual, and to access the CITI-based Research Security Training course.
• Some covered individuals are required to take additional web-based training courses related to research security, all of which are available through the Research Security Training page:
  • University personnel supporting federal contracts/awards with access to regulated data (controlled unclassified information, HIPAA, genomic, etc.) must complete Controlled Unclassified Information Training.
  • Personnel involved in export-controlled research are required to complete Export Control Compliance Training.
  • University personnel working on a federal project requiring Operations Security (OPSEC) training must complete OPSEC training.
  • Personnel working on some select Department of Defense projects are required to complete Insider Threat Awareness training.
• Once you have completed required research security training, don’t forget to confirm completion by submitting your certificate(s) using the form on the Research Security Training page.

For more information about research security at USC, visit the Office of Research Security website.

 

Reminder: NIH Public Access Policy mandating zero embargo is now in effect

Effective July 1, 2025 the NIH Public Access Policy is in effect and manuscripts accepted for publication in a journal on or after July 1 must be submitted to PubMed Central for public availability without embargo upon the official date of publication. To assist with compliance, the NIH has developed a new website dedicated to the Public Access Policy which includes an overview of the policy, supplemental guidance, tips for submitting to PubMed Central, contact information and FAQs.

 

New Monthly Grant Awards Report: June 2025

The Office of the Vice President for Research is pleased to share our monthly report listing new grant awards USC faculty researchers across the university system received between June 1 and June 30, 2025. Please note that some awards received toward the end of that period might have missed the reporting cut-off. In such cases, the award will be listed in the next monthly report. Review the June 2025 report.