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Who Does What

Sponsored Research (SR) teams are structured to meet the operational needs of the Northwestern research community through responsive, sustainable approaches that balance workloads, leverage specialized expertise, and minimize handoffs. Use the Find My SR Contact tool to identify your designated contacts.

Our Teams

Sponsored Research comprises five operational teams aligned with the office’s core business functions. Each team partners with Northwestern researchers and staff to support compliance, review, advisement, negotiation, approval, and authorization of sponsored research activities.

Chart listing responsibilities of each SR Team

Pre-Award & Award Management

The Pre-Award & Award Management Team is divided into two constituency-based sub-teams:

  • The Pre-Award Team provides pre-award support to the Northwestern research community including, but not limited to, proposal review and submission, post-submission updates, and Just-in-time (JIT) requests. 
  • The Award Management Team provides non-financial post-award support to the Northwestern research community including, but not limited to, award modification requests, amendments, progress and final report submission (anticipated January 2026), and award troubleshooting.

Contracts & Award Acceptance

The Contract & Award Acceptance Team drafts, reviews, and negotiates agreements and contracts for sponsored research projects, reviews complex sponsored awards, and ensures that all contracts and agreements comply with Northwestern University policies and processes.

Subcontracts Management

The Subcontracts Management Team drafts, issues, negotiates, and executes outgoing subcontract agreements, conducts subrecipient risk assessments, and completes post execution activities such as federal FFATA reporting.

Business Systems & Operations

The Business Systems and Operations Team has three divisions:

  • Analysts provide functional support to CERES users, manage data quality and reporting, and facilitate access to grant submission systems.
  • Award Setup Associates set up awards in Northwestern enterprise systems and processes post-award management requests.
  • Coordinators triage workflow inside of Sponsored Research, coordinate (non-progress) reporting (e.g., invention reports, human subjects data), and manage industry clinical trials.
SR Teams by sponsored project lifecycle phase

Department Contacts

Some teams designate a primary SR contact for each department, while others assign work based on team capacity and expertise without fixed departmental constituencies.

Teams with Assigned Constituencies

The Pre-Award, Award Management, Subcontracts Management, and Business Systems & Operations Award Setup teams each assign a primary SR contact to specific departments. While these assignments provide consistency, workloads may shift among team members to ensure timely support.

Use the Find My SR Contact tool to identify your designated contact for these teams.

Teams without Assigned Constituencies

The Contracts & Award Acceptance (CAA) team does not assign departmental contacts. Agreements - including awards, contracts, and non-funded agreements - are distributed among team members based on capacity and subject matter expertise. To identify the assigned CAA team member, refer to the “Owner” field in the CERES agreement record.

The Business Systems & Operations Analyst and Coordinator teams also do not operate with assigned constituencies. Team members rotate responsibilities and provide support based on their areas of expertise. For assistance, reference the SR Help Page to connect with the relevant team or submit a help request.