SRAI maintains 11 Certificate programs encompassing every aspect of Research Administration – Hospitals, Universities, Nonprofits, and Commercial Institutions. SRAI Certificate programs offer comprehensive training specific to today’s educational needs of research administrators.
The five (5) Certificates that will be offered in full at the 2026 SRAI Annual Meeting are:
Developed by a team of international experts in the field, the curriculum is designed to provide RMAs with tools and insights to navigate an increasingly complex global research landscape. The certificate covers the whole research lifecycle with emphasis on aspects such as
The Certificate is offered at an intermediary level. It is tailored to those that have a solid foundation in research management and administration with typically at least 5+ years of experience.
Required Workshop: WS26: Global Research Management Certificate Workshop
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The certificate includes content that is relevant for research managers who are generally at a Director or higher-level within an organization and covers the broad range of activities comprising research operations.
Required Workshop: WS23: Beyond Survival: Leading Research Administration Through Uncertainty, Change, and Resource Constraint
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The best preparation for a successful funding decision is driven by strategic planning and management of complex issues that shape competitive proposal development and submission. The work of pre-award research administrators plays a critical role in aligning sponsor requirements, institutional policy, and investigator goals to prepare the way for successful implementation of the funded project. The Pre-Award (PA) certificate provides instruction in the broad scope of responsibility for research administrators who support proposal development and who trouble-shoot with various agency personnel, institutional administrators, and investigators to ensure all issues are clarified before an award is made. The program features workshops and sessions on finding and disseminating funding opportunity information, fostering collaborations, framing research narratives, proposal development and submission, budget preparation, award review and acceptance, post-submission communications, the responsible and ethical conduct of research, electronic research administration (eRA) systems, and other relevant topics.
Required Workshops: WS22: Budget Smart, Propose Strong: A Guide to Proposal Budgeting Fundamentals & WS25: Proposal Management Process
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The law related to the administration and management of research is incredibly broad, diverse and dynamic. While research administrators frequently work with in-house counsel and sometimes with outside counsel, the Research Law Certificate is designed to give research administrators an overview of the magnitude of the multiple legal issues associated with research. Research administrators taking this Certificate will be provided with sufficient information and substance to effectively identify legal issues and communicate effectively regarding potential solutions to such issues. Lawyers working with research institutions work on cases and policy relating to a broad range of topics that include access to artificial intelligence, confidential information, insurance coverage, conflicts of interest and other ethical issues, drugs safety and international relations. In part because of the breadth of the field, the law related to research activities also cuts across and involves doctrine and practice from an even wider area ranging from tax law, criminal law and even issues that involve freedom of speech implications.
Law related to research administration is practiced in multiple settings: federal, state and local government; mediation; universities, health care, business, and legal services organizations; advocacy nonprofits; and private law firms, to name a few. Some research administrators may hold a juris doctor (JD) although they may not serve as lawyers for their organization. They may serve in roles such as compliance, contract negotiation, policy drafting or advocacy work. This diversity makes the law related to research a field where almost anyone can find an area of interest, and where those working within the field can find new challenges in an ever-changing landscape.
Because of the foregoing, the Research Law Certificate is broadly structured to cover an array of topics with concentrations in those areas of most common concern. The Certificate is based on an intensive workshop survey of the various aspects of the law that will touch almost every research administrator and lawyer working with research institutions.
Required Workshop: WS202: Introduction to Research Law
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New to Research Law? Our Certificate Chairs have created a recommended pathway of sessions you can take in order to earn the Research Law Certificate! Recommended sessions are identified with "Fall 2026" written next to them.
The Research Project Management (RPM) Certificate is designed to equip research program and project managers, administrators, and researchers to launch, lead, and adapt varying complexity levels of research projects and multi-institutional collaborations. The curriculum adapts core project management disciplines to the realities of research, which include scientific uncertainty, regulatory obligations, distributed teams, and sponsor accountability, while integrating governance, risk, financial stewardship, compliance, collaboration practices, and project tools and infrastructure. Graduates can align preaward intent with post award execution through effective governance, kickoff frameworks, and fit-for-purpose project infrastructure; adapt plans, timelines, and deliverables as conditions evolve; identify and mitigate research-specific risks across scientific, operational, compliance, financial, and reputational domains; coordinate PI-centered, multi-institutional teams using strong communication and decision practices; and apply research-appropriate tools (dashboards, task systems, collaboration platforms, document control, and reporting systems) to monitor progress and support adaptive management.
Required Workshop: WS200: Essentials of Research Project Management in Non-Commercial Institutions
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Each session will have a Certificate Tracking sign in the room where you can scan the session's unique QR code.
Prefer to go low tech? Not a problem! A downloadbale certificate tracking booklet can be downloaded here. Track your session by writing "Fall 2026" on the line corresponding to the session or workshops you've completed and return to SRAI Registration.