Dear colleagues

The electronic Research Administration (eRA) pre-awards module will be rolled out to all faculties – with the exception of Faculty of Health Sciences (FHS) where it has already been rolled out – on the 1 October 2019.

Read more about the eRA pre-awards module here

This decision was made after consultation with faculties (including the Graduate School of Business), as the pre-awards application is a new process for researchers outside of FHS.

While many in our research community do see the need for and the benefits of this kind of tracking and risk mitigation tool for the pre-award stage of the research lifecycle, many have requested more time to prepare for this change in behaviour and to familiarise themselves with the system.

We have also had feedback from a pilot that took place at the Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine and from the eRA pre-awards rollout in FHS on how the system can be improved and would like to implement this feedback before university-wide rollout to ensure optimum system functionality.

Between now and 1 October we will be working to identify and implement suitable pilots for the pre-awards module in each faculty to familiarise key role players with the system. At this stage we have identified the Global Challenges Research Fund Networking Grant as an appropriate pilot opportunity. All researchers applying for this grant will thus automatically be a part of the pre-awards pilot and receive the necessary dedicated support throughout the application process.

For more information about the eRA programme please visit the eRA Overview page here and see the eRA 2019 rollout updates here.

The Research Announcement is produced by the Research Office, University of Cape Town.