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Research Administrator skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025
5 min read
Quoted Experts
Dr. Anna Frank,
Marianela Rivera Ph.D.
Research Administrator Example Skills
Below we've compiled a list of the most critical research administrator skills. We ranked the top skills for research administrators based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 10.3% of research administrator resumes contained research administration as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills a research administrator needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 research administrator skills for your resume and career

1. Research Administration

Research administration is concerned with enhancing the success of the research department in any organization by obtaining external funding solely for research, training, and service activity to assist the research department and the organization as a whole.

Here's how research administrators use research administration:
  • Ensured effective operations of Research Administration by articulating professionally and utilizing sound judgment and time management to get the job done.
  • Served as Chairperson on a focus group to develop an informational website pertaining to research administration issues for department administrators.

2. Customer Service

Customer service is the process of offering assistance to all the current and potential customers -- answering questions, fixing problems, and providing excellent service. The main goal of customer service is to build a strong relationship with the customers so that they keep coming back for more business.

Here's how research administrators use customer service:
  • Established and developed a culture of customer service excellence and satisfaction to include measurement and continuous improvement.
  • Provided timely and responsive customer service to all customers calling with inquiries about DHL services or their packages.

3. Principal Investigators

A principal investigator is an individual who's responsible for preparing, conducting, and overseeing a sponsored project, research grant, training, contract,or any project in line with the regulations and instituted laws guiding the conduct of a sponsored research. It majorly applies to research projects, and the PI or principal investigator ensures everything is fully supervised to align with the laws of a sponsored research project.

Here's how research administrators use principal investigators:
  • Collaborate with Principal Investigators to assess the most effective means of addressing issues pertaining to institutional and/or federal regulations.
  • Serve as an information resource to principal investigators/research representatives relative to grant fiscal issues and regulatory and compliance issues.

4. PIS

PIS -- Product Information Sheet is a type of document that describes the features and characteristics of a product -- existing product or introduction of a new product and contains the summary of the product's performance.

Here's how research administrators use pis:
  • Contribute in the development of long-range plans and funding strategies for activities of assigned PIs.
  • Provide task assignment reminders as needed to PIs, investigators, and other staff.

5. Pre-award

Here's how research administrators use pre-award:
  • Coordinated with Pre-Award administrators for grant submissions, JIT and progress reports.
  • Perform pre-award and post-award administrative activities for a number of academic departments, centers or programs.

6. Payroll

Payroll is the sum of all the compensation that an organization has to pay to employees at a specified time. Payroll is managed by the finance or HR department while small business owners may handle it themselves. Payroll isn't fixed as it varies every month due to sick leaves, overtime, etc.

Here's how research administrators use payroll:
  • Analyzed monthly expenses, executed budget and expense reconciliation, payroll analysis, and headcount management.
  • Prepared monthly account reconciliation and prepared payroll and non-payroll expense transfers.

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7. NIH

NIH stands for the National Institutes of Health. This organization oversees a series of research institutions, each focused on a different area of study involving anatomical systems or diseases. As the organization is affiliated with the government, a great deal of the funding institutions receive come from Congress.

Here's how research administrators use nih:
  • Verified required components and guideline adherence for NIH grant proposals; assembled proposals for delivery.
  • Monitored activities for completeness, accuracy and compliance with University and NIH requirements.

8. Grants Management

Here's how research administrators use grants management:
  • Reviewed all research grants using institutional grants management systems and prepared financial status reports forecasting grant expenditures and projections.
  • Advised Grants Management senior management of pending issues related to large financial discrepancies and issues of legal import.

9. Research Projects

Here's how research administrators use research projects:
  • Provided budget analysis for numerous research projects in support of multiple physicians and staff members, forecasting staffing requirements.
  • Review monthly and quarterly revenue/expense reports for individual research projects conveying summary information to investigators and managers.

10. PowerPoint

Here's how research administrators use powerpoint:
  • Created multiple PowerPoint presentations for business development and scientific conferences.
  • Supervised Data Entry and managed the study using Microsoft Access, Word, PowerPoint and Excel.

11. IRB

An institutional review board (IRB), is a form of committee that applies research ethics by vetting research procedures to ensure they are ethical. In order to decide whether or not research can be undertaken, they often perform a kind of risk-benefit analysis. The IRB's function is to ensure that adequate safeguards are in place to protect the interests and health of humans who are participants of a research sample.

Here's how research administrators use irb:
  • Standardized IRB record-keeping among campuses.
  • Work proactively with IRB Coordinator on all applicable human and animal protocols, consents and related compliance issues including subject reimbursement.

12. Proposal Preparation

Prороѕаl Prераrаtіоn provides a gеnеrаl оvеrvіеw for fасultу аnd staff рrераrіng a рrороѕаl fоr fundіng. Thе Proposal Preparation Guide соntаіnѕ іmроrtаnt information іntеndеd tо assist fасultу and staff іn thе рrераrаtіоn оf sponsored-project аррlісаtіоnѕ.

Here's how research administrators use proposal preparation:
  • Provide counsel to researchers regarding proposal preparation.
  • Assist faculty with proposal preparation.

13. Project Management

Here's how research administrators use project management:
  • Designed and implemented new project management tools to enhance productivity and efficiency.
  • Provided project management for several initiatives for the Executive Offices.

14. Post-Award Administration

Here's how research administrators use post-award administration:
  • Assisted with questions regarding post-award administration: budget transfers, requisitions, invoicing, effort reporting, and closeouts.
  • Staff Research Administrator responsible for pre- and post-award administration for five teaching and research departments.

15. Federal Regulations

Federal regulations refer to the set of rules, both general and permanent that are published in the Federal Register by the agencies of the federal government and the executive departments. Federal regulations are the large body of rules that govern federal practice. Examples of these laws include taxes and financial regulation, discrimination law, wages law, and so on.

Here's how research administrators use federal regulations:
  • Assessed outgoing grant applications and progress reports for compliance with federal regulations and sponsor guidelines- Developed budgets for all projects.
  • Created internal systems consistent with institutional policy and adherence to federal regulations/requirements of OMB circulars and CFR 45.
top-skills

What skills help Research Administrators find jobs?

Tell us what job you are looking for, we’ll show you what skills employers want.

What skills stand out on Research Administrator resumes?

Dr. Anna FrankDr. Anna Frank LinkedIn Profile

Exercise Science, DePaul University

First, a degree from a highly respected university. Our graduates have been highly sought after. Experience working with a variety of individuals in a variety of settings is significant. Future professionals must then be committed to social justice, how are explicit in supporting the health and recreational needs of ALL individuals, not just those who can purchase a Peloton.

What technical skills for a Research Administrator stand out to employers?

Marianela Rivera Ph.D.Marianela Rivera Ph.D. LinkedIn Profile

Assistant Professor of Spanish, Foreign Languages Division Coordinator, Faculty Affiliate, Center for Critical Race & Ethnic Studies, Florida Gulf Coast University

In the past, technology was not necessarily one of the main concerns for people interested in romance languages, literatures, and linguistics; however, even before the pandemic, a variety of platforms and resources were made available to facilitate teaching courses related to those fields. The pandemic has highlighted the need to adapt to evolving times, so now technical skills are definitely something employers look for in potential candidates in addition to teaching and research excellence. Knowledge of and experience in online course development, technical writing, social media management, learning management systems, and project management are definitely skills that would stand out to employers.

What soft skills should all Research Administrators possess?

Dr. Ionut FlorescuDr. Ionut Florescu LinkedIn Profile

Research Professor Financial Engineering, Director Hanlon Laboratories, Director Financial Analytics program, Stevens Institute of Technology

I believe in terms of soft skills, every graduate should be able to explain the results of their complex models to someone who isn't technically sound. So, presentation skills are extremely important. Then the capability of approaching a presenter at a conference or workshop and ask pertinent questions about what they just presented is really important. We require all our students to not only make presentations but also ask questions during other teams' presentations. I believe the most important thing as a teacher in the course is to criticize them when their presentation is not crisp or when the question isn't clear or appropriate.

List of research administrator skills to add to your resume

Research Administrator Skills

The most important skills for a research administrator resume and required skills for a research administrator to have include:

  • Research Administration
  • Customer Service
  • Principal Investigators
  • PIS
  • Pre-award
  • Payroll
  • NIH
  • Grants Management
  • Research Projects
  • PowerPoint
  • IRB
  • Proposal Preparation
  • Project Management
  • Post-Award Administration
  • Federal Regulations
  • Financial Analysis
  • Projection
  • Research Proposals
  • Human Subjects
  • Clinical Trials
  • Financial Management
  • Research Community
  • Proposal Submission
  • Budget Development
  • Research Program
  • Clinical Research
  • Grant Administration
  • HR
  • Financial Transactions
  • PeopleSoft
  • Cost Transfers
  • Public Health
  • Budget Preparation
  • Proposal Development
  • Administrative Tasks
  • Cooperative Agreements
  • Compliance Issues
  • Institutional Review
  • OMB
  • Research Assistants
  • Data Collection
  • Reconciliations
  • Data Entry
  • Regulatory Compliance
  • Process Improvement
  • Principle Investigators
  • Data Management

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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