About

The offices within the area of Research Administration and Compliance offer a full spectrum of administrative support for research at every step of the process–from pre-award and post-award management to compliance and close-out. Activities are coordinated across units so the staff can best serve and support faculty and staff.

View our Grant Life Cycle Quick Links page.

Office of Pre-Award Services (OPAS)

The Office of Pre-Award Services (OPAS) provides quality support for pre-award administration for sponsored research projects at UMass Amherst. OPAS is responsible for reviewing, approving and submitting externally-sponsored project proposals. OPAS offers proposal development support and processes just-in-time requests, budget revisions, and progress reports.

Office of Post-Award Management (OPAM)

The Office of Post-Award Management (OPAM) provides quality post-award administration for sponsored research at UMass Amherst. OPAM oversees many aspects of sponsored research administration including awards set up; the management, negotiation, and execution of agreements; and final reporting and project close out.

Research Compliance

Research Compliance oversees all compliance requirements at UMass Amherst related to research under one coordinated unit. Our policies, procedures, and guidelines are designed to support the responsible and ethical conduct of research at UMass Amherst and ensure adherence to all laws and regulations guiding research. We recognize the increasing burden of compliance requirements on researchers and work to provide assistance to decrease this burden wherever possible.

Major areas of compliance responsibilities include animal use and care, human subject protection, biological and chemical safety, export control, responsible conduct of research, conflict of interest, research misconduct and data security and facility access.

Office of Project Management and Training (OPMT)

The Office of Project Management and Training (OPMT) coordinates strategic programs and provides project management to support campus research initiatives. OPMT also develops, coordinates, and delivers various training programs, primarily to support research administrators. OPMT works collaboratively with other VCRE units to assist with large-scale, cross disciplinary, and strategic proposals and awards.