If you have a question that you don’t see the answer for please email NU-RES@Northeastern.edu and we will respond promptly and also will update this page, so please check back often.

General

Yes, NU-RES has prepared its “Stay Connected: NU-RES Continuity & You” plan to make sure that that your proposals are submitted on time and your awards are managed effectively, even when our teams are working off-campus. The plan is designed to minimize distributions in service and support, for example:

I. Research Administration

  • Grant Officers and Contract Officerswill be available during core business hours by phone or via Microsoft Teams for any questions or concerns you may have regarding:
    • Proposal review and submission
    • Agreement review/negotiation
    • Award processing and ongoing proposal-award lifecycle management
  • Use ePAWs and eCLAWs to stay on track with proposals and agreements
  1. ePAWS: Proposal Submission, Award Acceptance & Management: Please follow standard operating procedures to submit proposals for institutional review and approval. Because of potential timing issues and funding agency on-line systems, we recommend faculty submit their FINAL applications to NU-RES at least 3 days in advance of the funding agency’s deadline.
  2. eCLAWs: Contracts & Agreements: Submit and track all research-related contracts and agreements via the new eCD eCLAWs ePAWs web-based application. Log in here.

NU-RES will use multiple communication channels, including the Research Administration Listserv. Please check the NU-RES COVID-19 website for regular updates and announcements related to NU-RES operations and Northeastern’s COVID-19 website for general announcements.

I. Research Administration

  • Grant Officers and Contract Officers will be available during core business hours by phone or via Microsoft Teams for any questions or concerns you may have regarding:
    • Proposal review and submission
    • Agreement review/negotiation
    • Award processing and ongoing proposal-award lifecycle management
  • Use ePAWs and eCLAWs to stay on track with proposals and agreements
  1. ePAWS: Proposal Submission, Award Acceptance & Management: Please follow standard operating procedures to submit proposals for institutional review and approval. Because of potential timing issues and funding agency on-line systems, we recommend faculty submit their FINAL applications to NU-RES at least 3 days in advance of the funding agency’s deadline.
  2. eCLAWs: Contracts & Agreements: Submit and track all research-related contracts and agreements via the new eCD eCLAWs ePAWs web-based application. Log in here.
  1. For help using any of the on-line software applications please email your NU-RES Grants Officer or the NU-RES Help Center

Please send inquiries and non-eCLAWs transactions to NU-RES@northeastern.edu

For help using any of the on-line software applications please email your NU-RES Grants Officer or the NU-RES Help Center

Please send inquiries and non-eCLAWs transactions to NU-RES@northeastern.edu

NU-RES ADMINISTRATION

For proposals and non-financial award transactions please contact your NU-RES Grants Officer.

For help using any of NU-RES’ web-based software applications (eCLAWsCoeus/ePAWs) please contact the NU-RES Help Center.

For prior approval transactions (T-form pdfs) and other inquiries please submit via NU-RES@northeastern.edu

NU-RES COMPLIANCE

Please contact Jeff Seo or Amanda Humphrey with any questions regarding research compliance and regulatory matters related to research (e.g., Export Controls, Conflicts of Interest); Nan Regina for Human Subjects Research/IRB, Sean Sullivan for Animals/IACUC, and Jack Price for Biosafety.

NU-RES FINANCE

For post-award financial operations please NU-RES Analyst for questions on post-award financial operations. If you do not know who your analyst is or need additional assistance, please send an email to NU-RESFinance@northeastern.edu.

For paper paper-based financial transactions (e.g., DPAY or Stipend payments), please scan and upload all necessary documentation as a PDF and send it to Research_Finance@northeastern.edu. Be sure to include all department-level approvals. Research Finance will review and once approved, forward to AP at invoice@northeastern.edu.

Please note: If you have already sent in documentation directly to AP for Ledger 5 expenses, they will forward those to NU-RES Finance for approval before processing. If you have any questions please contact your NU-RES Analyst or go to the Finance website for additional guidance.

Yes, however, please check back frequently as specific funding agency guidance continues to evolve.

Depending on the nature of your project and the impact of any disruption to the project, communication, including documenting agency prior approvals may be needed (e.g., reporting or no-cost extensions, requests for administrative supplements, etc.) Please contact your NU-RES Grants Officer – preferably by email to discuss specific needs and requirements. We’ll work with you re: next steps.

The University has restricted all non-essential university-sponsored travel, both internationally and domestic. Any air travel must be approved by an SVP. Please see Northeastern’s COVID-19 travel guidance for additional information.

For travel charged to grants, please contact NU-RESfinance@northeastern.edu for additional guidance. Depending on the funding agency non-refundable expenses may be allowable. Please note, University policies and procedures related to travel and expense reimbursements still apply and should be practiced consistently; please document any conference cancellations and denied refund requests.

Funding Agency Cross References

NIH NOT-OD-20-86

Please contact your NU-RES Grants Officer for guidance related to salary or stipend support on awards or significant reductions in levels of commitment. As a gentle reminder, all expenditures on awards must be necessary, reasonable and allocable and consistent with the funding agency’s regulations and policies.

Northeastern University has requested that all employees work remotely to the maximum extent feasible and will continue to pay staff, faculty, and students.   For individuals whose salary or stipend (e.g., faculty, investigators, project personnel and students) is supported by an extramurally funded award please contact your NU-RES Grant Officer for further guidance regarding allowable charges.  NIH, for example, will allow salary and stipend expenditures consistent with University policy.

Agency Cross References:

NIH NOT-OD-20-086

Please contact your NU-RES Contract Officer to review the terms and conditions of the specific sponsored research agreement or contract. Standard sponsored research agreement terms typically include a force majeure clause, i.e., you will not be held in breach because of events beyond your control, or a contract may have a similar term. For example, the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) do not have a force majeure clause but instead incorporates an excusable delay clause, see e.g., 48 CFR § 52.249-14. Your NU-RES Contract Officer will work with you and the funding agency’s management specialist to make sure that terms and conditions of the award are met and/or modified as needed.

Due to the rapidly evolving concerns and risks related to the COVID-19 outbreak, the Senior Vice Provost for Research as suspended all in-person enrollment and study subject visits. For more information please review SVPR Memo dated 3-13-2020, or if investigators have questions please contact Nan Regina, Director Office of Human Research Subjects Projection, at n.regina@northeastern.edu.

All principal investigators must have institutional biosafety committee approval prior to performing any coronavirus research or work on campus (including to help state and federal agencies to screen patient samples), and must undergo IBC’s review and approval, this includes requesting or accepting COVID-19 samples (patient or otherwise).

NU-RES is fully operational – we’re working remotely during regular business hours. All material transfer, data use, or other contracts and legal agreements can be submitted via eCLAWs.

The Center for Research Innovations (CRI) is fully operational and working remotely during regular business hours. For more information about submitting invention disclosures please visit CRI’s Inventor’s web page.

Laboratory Research

The University continues to closely monitor the outbreak of COVID-19, at this time research labs remain open; however, Principal Investigators are urged to take steps to reduce the spread of the coronavirus on campus, ramp down research activities and plan for the possibility than access to research laboratories will be restricted.

For PIs

  1. Decrease Density (maximize remote work, rotate shifts, identify personnel necessary for critical experiments)
  2. Regular cleaning/disinfecting of lab
  3. Create a continuity plan in the event of a change in circumstances.

For Lab Personnel

  1. Don’t come into the lab if you feel sick
  2. Don’t come into the lab if someone you have had contact with is sick
  3. Wash your hands & use protective gear
  4. Practice social distancing to the extent feasible

Note that this guidance may change with very little advance notice if the University is instructed by Public Health authorities to restrict operations to essential personnel, i.e., those members of the lab who are needed for the care of animals, maintenance of critical samples or materials, maintenance of equipment or for conducting on-going research experiments where the interruption would result in significant losses.

If they haven’t already done so, PIs are urged to undertake research continuity planning immediately, in the case that regular access to campus buildings is limited for several weeks or more. See additional guidance under Planning for Research Continuity.

To reduce the potential transmission of the coronavirus in the coming weeks, all research groups, campus labs, and research facilities put in place the following measures:

  • Require that all personnel who are feeling unwell to stay home until they no longer have symptoms.
  • Remind all personnel to practice recommended personal hygiene measures including washing hands frequently, using hand sanitizer, avoiding touching their face, and covering coughs by coughing into an elbow.
  • Urge research personnel and support staff to work remotely unless essential access to campus facilities is needed – both to allow for social distancing, or in case they need to self-isolate on short notice. Have personnel test out remote setups before they are needed.
  • Reduce density and allow “social distancing” of research group personnel.
    • In Lab Settings: Increase spacing between researchers where possible to >6 feet, explore having personnel come to the lab in shifts, allowing every other bench to be unoccupied, etc. Encourage wearing disposable gloves (where not already required) to reduce contact with potentially infected equipment. Gloves should be removed and properly disposed of before leaving the lab. Transition lab meetings and seminars to videoconference. See also the next bullet.
    • In Non-Lab Settings: Immediately implement social distancing measures. Encourage group discussions to be held online using Microsoft Teams, Zoom, etc., google hangouts to maintain discussion and interaction. When in-person is required, ensure social distancing of >6 feet between individuals, and ensure that conference tables, whiteboards, whiteboard markers, etc. are regularly cleaned using disinfectant wipes.
  • Research teams and lab personnel should increase the routine cleaning of research spaces. Facilities Services is conducting regular cleaning of common spaces, conference rooms, bathrooms, and doorknobs, but research groups should take charge of wiping down of shared chairs, keyboards, tools, lab benches, equipment and instrumentation, and communal-use items such as whiteboard markers/erasers, coffee pots, etc.
    • To assist Facilities in their work, remove clutter and inventory and label dangerous reagents and sensitive instrumentation for which services staff should steer clear.

Principal Investigators and research managers should work with each of their students and postdoctoral trainees to develop a personalized plan that allows each person to conduct research remotely to the fullest extent possible, e.g., performing data analysis, literature review, modeling and computation, writing manuscripts and applications, and planning.

Whether a student or postdoctoral researcher continues to work physically in the laboratory should be at the discretion of that individual. In other words, unless their presence is required for an essential role, trainees who wish to exclusively work remotely should be allowed to do so, and PIs should work to facilitate those wishes.

To help reduce the potential spread of COVID-19, we strongly urge that researchers cancel in-person visits of individuals and groups to campus, and instead hold meetings and consultations online.

Note that Northeastern visiting scholars and researchers currently on campus must follow all COVID-19 guidance regarding social distancing, working remotely, etc.

The University has restricted all non-essential university-sponsored travel, both internationally and domestic. Any air travel must be approved by an SVP. Please see Northeastern’s COVID-19 travel guidance for additional information.

For travel charged to grants, please contact NU-RESfinance@northeastern.edu for additional guidance. Depending on the funding agency non-refundable expenses may be allowable. Please note, University policies and procedures related to travel and expense reimbursements still apply and should be practiced consistently; please document any conference cancellations and denied refund requests.

Funding Agency Cross References

NIH NOT-OD-20-86

Please contact your NU-RES Grants Officer for guidance related to salary or stipend support on awards or significant reductions in levels of commitment. As a gentle reminder, all expenditures on awards must be necessary, reasonable and allocable and consistent with the funding agency’s regulations and policies.

Agency Cross References:

NIH NOT-OD-20-086

Please contact your NU-RES Contract Officer to review the terms and conditions of the specific sponsored research agreement or contract. Standard sponsored research agreement terms typically include a force majeure clause, i.e., you will not be held in breach because of events beyond your control, or a contract may have a similar term. For example, the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) do not have a force majeure clause but instead incorporates an excusable delay clause, see e.g., 48 CFR § 52.249-14. Your NU-RES Contract Officer will work with you and the funding agency’s management specialist to make sure that terms and conditions of the award are met and/or modified as needed.

All principal investigators must have institutional biosafety committee approval prior to performing any coronavirus research or work on campus (including to help state and federal agencies to screen patient samples), and must undergo IBC’s review and approval, this includes requesting or accepting COVID-19 samples (patient or otherwise).

NU-RES is fully operational – we’re working remotely during regular business hours. All material transfer, data use, or other contracts and legal agreements can be submitted via eCLAWs.

The Center for Research Innovations (CRI) is fully operational and working remotely during regular business hours. For more information about submitting invention disclosures please visit CRI’s Inventor’s web page.

NU-RES Operational Support

Yes, the NU-RES team is working remotely and all systems are operational so even if access to the campus is restricted we can continue to support our researchers and administrators.

NU-RES is closely monitoring funding agency guidance and, where appropriate, working directly with the agency’s grants management specialist to address contingencies or special needs.

Depending on the nature and scope of the support needed, and the capacity available at NU-RES, the NU-RES SASU may be able to help. Please contact Justyna Szulc, Associate Director NU-RES Research Administration to discuss possible options.

Please contact NU-RES@northeastern.edu and we will respond with the appropriate contacts and referrals. Yale University has an excellent research emergency preparedness reference site. For individuals whose research is not lab-based, you may want to use a simple checklist to more effectively manage your research awards while we all work from remote locations.

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Last Updated on September 13, 2023