Northwestern is developing a new system to make it easier for faculty and scientists to centralize and track information about research projects.

The system comes after scrutiny of NU’s research practices in the past two years by several government organizations.

The program, Research Data Integration and Analysis, will be online with limited amounts of data in June.

Researchers said the new system will centralize all research information, including grants and animals involved with the project, so it can become more accessible.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture scrutinized some of NU’s research practices. Many of the investigations looked into NU’s research record-keeping and the treatment of lab animals.

Last January NU paid a $9,400 civil penalty to the USDA.

NU also paid $5.5 million to the federal government in February 2003 in response to claims that researchers misrepresented the amount of time spent on federally-funded projects, although the university admitted no wrongdoing.

“Right at the moment, info regarding research grant applications goes to one place and it’s not available to us in an online fashion,” said physiology Prof. John Disterhoft, a member on the RDIA Faculty/Staff Advisory Committee.

Disterhoft said other information about research projects and updated records are only available to those who are extremely skilled at navigating the systems.

RDIA should help reduce paperwork, make information more readily available and improve faculty and support staff efficiency, he said.

“If it is done properly, it should make our job easier,” he said.

There are two other related system initiatives also underway — the Data Warehouse and Financial Management Systems Replacement.

The Data Warehouse will include information in the RDIA and expand upon it, said Kathleen Crawford, director of change management and IT Initiatives in NU’s Office of

Change Management.

It will take existing data in Human Resources, student and research systems and consolidate it in one location.

“If I wanted to know about students who hold jobs, some of its going to be in the student system and some of it is going to be Human Resources,” Crawford said. “(Currently) they are not to going to be in the same place.”

The financial management system will replace the current system that handles all of NU’s financial information, including purchasing and budgeting.

All of these system improvements are necessary because of the growth of the research enterprise and the increase in government regulations, Crawford said.

The first release of the financial management system will come in fall 2007 and is in its infancy, Crawford said.

The projects are sponsored by NU’s Enterprise System Executive Committee and the Office of Change Management.

Reach Ashima Singal at [email protected].