UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — As part of an ongoing effort to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of Penn State’s research enterprise, the Research Support Transformation Project (RSTP) will soon enter its second phase. The project will aim to implement process improvements that reduce administrative burden, improve efficiency, and increase throughput of Penn State’s research infrastructure.
The project's initial phase gathered and assessed feedback from Penn State’s research faculty and staff. Since then, various enhancements have been made, including updates to a researcher portal and the development of an Office of Research Administration Services.
Moving forward, the initiative will translate more of those insights into action, implementing the most meaningful changes to ease burden on faculty, improve workflow for support staff, and strengthen the research infrastructure while maintaining a deep, ongoing partnership with the community that shapes them.
“The Penn State research enterprise has grown considerably in recent years, and our infrastructure has not kept up,” said Andrew Read, senior vice president for research. “To support and empower the University’s research faculty and staff to expand our global impact, we recognize that our infrastructure needs to be strengthened, streamlined and optimized. We must not only manage change and continuous improvement but also strengthen core administration functions to handle the increasing volume, complexity and shifting federal regulations of modern research.”
Phase 1 of the initiative launched in 2023 with the goal of identifying ways to improve the usability and transparency of the Penn State research support processes for researchers, sponsors, research administrators and research project managers, as well as empowering future growth of the University’s research enterprise. The project started by examining current practices and processes, and workstreams were developed to focus on payment, electronic systems and support, and a needs assessment for research operations. Phase 1 concluded in spring 2025 with the compilation of a recommendation report.
The report found that current research administration processes can create challenges and complexities. These processes often involve multiple offices or units and are implemented inconsistently, sometimes resulting in a lack of clarity or understanding. Because of these complexities, faculty and staff may not know how to resolve concerns, address risks, or navigate contracts, according to the report.
“Every team has such an important impact on Penn State’s mission, and on learning and discovery. Even in sometimes challenging conditions, they find the way to get the job done,” Read said. “In order for the second phase of RSTP to be successful, we’ll need to work with everyone, and we’re committed to partnering with our research community. Ultimately, we want to make it easier to support the University’s research mission by introducing consistent practices, reducing confusion and creating new opportunities for collaboration.”
The final report was created through a yearlong collaboration with more than 90 employees across 30 units, including principal investigators and staff, through interviews and focus groups. Three key recommendations were highlighted for implementation in Phase 2:
- Establish a research lifecycle excellence governance committee to monitor the integration of continuous improvement principles.
- Create an implementation team to carry out the recommendations and identify any potential new challenges or barriers that may impede execution.
- Develop metrics to monitor implementation progress and the overall health of the sponsored research lifecycle.
Guided by early RSTP Phase 1 findings, project teams have already implemented several immediate optimizations to reduce administrative burdens, including the launch of the myFunds module within the researcher portal. This tool enables faculty to navigate and manage grants and startup funds with real-time transparency.
“We appreciate the commitment and dedication of our research administration professionals across Penn State that make our work possible,” Read said. “The systems our research community currently uses have been essential in allowing Penn State to accomplish our goals and achieve research excellence. But, as our size and scope changes, we’re looking for ways to adapt and reduce any silos or redundancies. That goal can make the work easier and simpler for all of us and assist us in achieving more successes and milestones in our research.”
Building on this momentum, the University also established the Office of Research Administration Services (ORAS) and its Financial Analysis and Compliance Office (FACO).
This new structure is designed to ensure restricted grants are properly monitored and driven to a successful close by reviewing high-risk transactions, identifying areas for improvement, and fostering professional development and best practices across the post-award community.
“These recommendations and early wins are powerful deliverables for Phase 1, but by no means is our work done,” Read said. “Rather, these workstreams and assessments are the beginning of a long-term effort for continuous improvement. We want to enhance our processes and infrastructure, and we will continue to do that work well into the future.”
The College of Medicine and Applied Research Laboratory (ARL) were considered out of the scope of Phase 1 of the initiative since they have undergone improvement initiatives individually. However, the RSTP team conducting Phase 1 interviewed stakeholders to gain insight and understanding from those previous efforts.
Entering into Phase 2
Moving forward, RSTP2 will take steps to enact recommendations, as well as collect feedback from those within Penn State’s research community. These ongoing efforts will continue to focus on collaboration and engagement.
“Our goal with this initiative is to find long-term strategies that help to strengthen Penn State’s research enterprise,” said Jeremy Bean, associate vice president of enterprise change and transformation. “Those strategies are most effective when we can use the feedback and expertise of the people working within the community. We want to focus on ways to improve the experience of our research support teams and make it easier to focus on research, innovation and discovery.”
The goal of this effort is to increase opportunities for research collaboration and contracts, alleviate the time and effort taken for administrative work, and create consistency across Penn State’s research facilities and programs.
“A more collaborative and unified approach to research support,” Read said, “offers an opportunity to improve the quality and quantity of work for all parties.”
As RSTP’s second phase progresses, it will focus on ways to increase organizational capacity, align organizational structure, support staff, and increase training. Future conversations also may include assessments of ways to collaborate with areas such as Information Technology, Finance and Business, and other organizational units to support continued growth of the research enterprise at Penn State.
“Penn State is changing lives and shaping industries around the world through our research. That work is only possible because of the support system we’ve built and relied on,” Read said. “By examining ways to strengthen and enhance that support system, we’re working to create more opportunities to do that important research. That helps to create more opportunities for discovery and innovation with wide-ranging impacts.”
The continued Research Support Transformation Program is sponsored by the University’s executive team, which, in addition to Read, includes Fotis Sotiropoulos, executive vice president and provost; Michael Wade Smith, senior vice president for External Affairs and chief of staff; and Sara Thorndike, senior vice president for Finance and Business/treasurer and chief financial officer.
Community members interested in staying informed about the second phase of the RSTP initiative are encouraged to visit the RSTP website.