Research Management
The Director of Research Management is responsible to the Vice President of Research Development for the work of the Office of Research Services.
Main Areas
- Provides administrative support to KAUST faculty in acquiring and managing external research funding.
- Management Office of the University Research Fund, which manages the multi-million US dollar internal KAUST research fund that allocates funding to KAUST faculty on a competitive bidding basis.
- Laboratory Design Services provides a service to incoming KAUST faculty developing conceptual and detailed designs for their laboratories.
Each of these offices has a team of staff led by a manager who reports to the Director.
Office of Research Services
The Office of Research Services is responsible for the following areas:
- Pre-Award administration (in support of proposal development).
- Award administration assessing the acceptability and the processing of offers of funding.
- Post-Award administration accounting for income and expenditure on awards.
The Office of Research Services works closely with the Technology Transfer Office, the General Counsel’s Office and the Insurance Officer. KAUST uses SAP IT systems to manage its research and an on-line Project (Proposal) Development Tool including a costs’ calculator will be used by faculty. The work includes:
- Advice on funding opportunities and the requirements of sponsors
- Developing relationships with potential sponsors to identify their future funding priorities
- Maintaining intelligence on the funding landscape
- Assistance to faculty with developing proposals
- Ensuring bids are compliant with KAUST and sponsor rules
- Advice/assistance on costing and pricing of proposals
- Drafting, reviewing, and negotiating contracts
- Advising faculty on the terms of awards
- Monitoring compliance with the terms of awards including the submission of deliverables
- Monitoring expenditure against budgets
- Submitting claims to sponsors
Management Office of the KAUST University Research Fund
To support its faculty’s research, KAUST has set up a major internal research fund. In its first year of operation, the Fund has a budget of US$15 million to allocate in grants. It is envisaged that the budget available to the Fund will be increased as the number of KAUST faculty grows and as its research activity expands.
Purpose of the fund
The purpose of the Fund is to support KAUST’s mission of undertaking research that will serve the economy of of Saudi Arabia and help establish KAUST’s reputation as a center of international excellence in its chosen fields of research. Grants are awarded on a competitive basis in response to applications received. Applications are subject to external peer review.
Management Committee
A Management Committee appointed by the President of KAUST and chaired by the Senior Vice President Research and Economic Development is responsible for managing the Fund and awarding grants. The Fund has an on-line application process and operates within the SAP environment. The work includes:
- Supporting the Chair in administering the Fund
- Servicing the Management Committee and implementing its decisions
- Managing procedures for the solicitation, assessment and review of applications, for making awards, monitoring expenditure and compliance with the terms of awards, processing reports from grant-holders and bringing to closure completed grants
- Monitoring commitments against the available Fund budget
- Assessing the take up and effectiveness of grants
- Preparing annual reports on the work and performance of the Fund
The Laboratory Design Services
The Laboratory Design Services are responsible for providing a service to in-coming faculty developing conceptual and detailed designs for their laboratories. in consultation with the appropriate KAUST facilities and technical services. The work includes:
- Discussing and agreeing with new faculty their laboratory and equipment needs within a budget and space allocation set by KAUST
- Visiting the current laboratories of the appointed faculty to help define their requirements
- Obtaining budget estimates from potential equipment suppliers
Contacts for Further Information
Ra’ed Husseini, Director, Research Management
raed.husseini@kaust.edu.sa
Silke Blohm, Manager, Office of Research Services
Silke.Blohm@kaust.edu.sa