FormKiQ's Research and Grant Administration solution supports the governed document layer behind sponsored programs, grant portfolios, IRB and ethics review, research compliance, and long-term research record retention.
Research institutions need more than shared folders for grant files and protocol documents. They need structured metadata, version control, access controls, workflow automation, audit trails, retention schedules, and governed AI processing across a lifecycle that spans application, award, review, reporting, closeout, and archival access.
Example in FormKiQ · fictional data
One research project, from proposal package to award closeout
1. Assemble the proposal package
The administrator adds the proposal and budget for a community-mobility study. FormKiQ connects the investigator and sponsor and flags the missing support letter.
How FormKiQ handles this step
- Linked entities: connect the investigator, institution, and sponsor to the research project.
- Project dossier RES-1042: keeps the proposal, budget, supporting documents, and project information together.
- Business Solution application: shows incomplete submission requirements before institutional review.
2. Approve the institutional submission
Once the support letter arrives, staff submit the proposal for institutional review. FormKiQ keeps the approved package ready for the sponsor application.
Institutional approval is separate from the sponsor’s funding decision.
How FormKiQ handles this step
- Proposal document: identifies the version under review and links the budget and support letter.
- FormKiQ workflow: records the sponsored-programmes decision and comments on the proposal.
- Project dossier RES-1042: retains the approved package used for external submission.
3. Connect the award and research decisions
Staff add the sponsor’s award and terms. FormKiQ keeps reporting requirements and outstanding protocol revisions visible as separate project responsibilities.
A funding award does not approve the research protocol or ethics.
How FormKiQ handles this step
- Award documents: record the sponsor’s notice, funding terms, and reporting obligations.
- Research documents: link the protocol and ethics decision, including any requested revision.
- Business Solution application: shows separate funding and research-review states within RES-1042.
4. Review reports and close the file
Staff collect sponsor reports and expenditure evidence, review each report, and check remaining obligations before recording project closeout.
How FormKiQ handles this step
- Reporting documents: connect progress and final reports to expenditure evidence, award changes, and sponsor requirements.
- FormKiQ workflow: records reviewer decisions on the report documents.
- Business Solution application: tracks the closeout checklist and staff completion decision. RES-1042 retains the full project record under the selected document retention controls.
Proposal, award, and reporting history connected to RES-1042
What Research and Grant Administration covers
Manage the full research administration document lifecycle — from grant application and award documentation through IRB and ethics review records, compliance reporting, and research data documentation — with governed access, retention, and audit capability aligned to institutional research programs.
- Grant application and award documentation management with structured intake, review, approval, and closeout workflows
- IRB and ethics review record management with version control, audit trails, and access controls for sensitive research documentation
- Compliance reporting workflows aligned to funding agency, institutional, ethics board, and regulatory requirements
- Configurable metadata schemas for project, funding source, investigator, document type, compliance status, reporting period, and retention category
- Governed research data documentation for data management plans, data use agreements, de-identification records, and data sharing approvals
- Integration with grants management, IRB, financial, HR, and compliance training systems through FormKiQ's Integration Framework modules
- Retention policies configured to research record requirements across multiple funding sources, jurisdictions, and regulatory frameworks
Research administration document model
Research document governance works best when the repository reflects the lifecycle of the research program, not just the folder structure of the department that created the files.
Grant and award records
Manage proposals, budgets, biosketches, award notices, sub-awards, modifications, expenditure reports, progress reports, and closeout records under a consistent project and funding-source model.
IRB and ethics records
Preserve protocols, consent forms, adverse event reports, continuing review materials, meeting minutes, decisions, and correspondence with version history and restricted access.
Compliance evidence
Organize conflict of interest disclosures, export control assessments, biosafety approvals, training evidence, regulatory filings, and audit response documentation.
Research data documentation
Govern the documentation layer around research data: data management plans, data use agreements, de-identification records, security plans, and sharing approvals.
Research administration lifecycle workflow
FormKiQ supports deadline-driven, multi-stakeholder workflows with routing, review, approval, notification, and audit evidence at each stage.
| Stage | How FormKiQ Supports It |
|---|---|
| Application preparation | Collect proposals, budgets, attachments, institutional certifications, and support letters with controlled collaboration and version history. |
| Institutional review and submission | Route materials through departmental, sponsored programs, financial, compliance, and institutional approvals with deadline escalation. |
| Award administration | Link award notices, terms, sub-awards, budget changes, no-cost extensions, progress reports, and closeout documents to the grant record. |
| IRB and ethics review | Manage protocol intake, completeness checks, reviewer assignment, committee documentation, decision letters, amendments, and continuing review. |
| Compliance reporting | Assemble required evidence from governed document collections instead of rebuilding audit packages from scattered sources. |
| Closeout and retention | Apply retention schedules based on closeout, study completion, reporting period, jurisdiction, document type, and funding agency requirements. |
Governance, automation, and AI focus
Metadata governance
Classify documents by project, grant identifier, sponsor, PI, department, document type, compliance status, reporting period, regulatory framework, and retention category.
Workflow automation
Automate proposal review, IRB intake, report approval, award modification, compliance evidence collection, and deadline-driven escalation.
Governed AI processing
Use Amazon Bedrock for document classification, metadata extraction, summarization, compliance screening, and gap identification, with human review and audit trails.
Institutional boundaries
Use FormKiQ sites or separate AWS account deployments to isolate faculties, departments, research centers, affiliated hospitals, or consortium partners.
System integration
FormKiQ is the governed document layer around the research administration systems institutions already use.
Grants systems
Cayuse, Kuali, InfoEd, ERA Commons, and other grants platforms can submit or retrieve documents through API patterns.
IRB systems
IRBManager, Advarra, RAMP, and similar systems can connect protocol documents, decisions, correspondence, and review evidence.
Financial systems
Workday, PeopleSoft, Banner, ERP, and accounting platforms can link expenditure reports, approvals, and audit evidence to governed records.
Compliance systems
Training, policy, HR, and compliance systems can deposit certificates, acknowledgments, disclosures, and attestations into governed collections.
Recommended platform configuration
Edition
FormKiQ Advanced for most research institutions. FormKiQ Enterprise for large research universities, multi-region operations, vendor-managed or hybrid deployment requirements, custom SLAs, or compliance consulting needs.
Modules commonly used
Enhanced Full-Text Search, KnowledgeBase, AI Processing and Analysis, and Integration Frameworks for grants, IRB, financial, and compliance systems.
Common fits: universities and research institutions, sponsored programs offices, academic medical centers, clinical research organizations, government research agencies, national laboratories, non-profit research organizations, and multi-institutional research consortia.
Read the in-depth guide
For a deeper walkthrough of grant application and award records, IRB and ethics review, compliance reporting, research data documentation, metadata governance, workflow automation, governed AI, retention, and data residency, read the full guide.
