Are you tired of running hard copies around campus for signatures for your research applications or wondering at what stage of approval your application is? Ever feel like there must be an easier way to do things?
The Scholarship, Research and Creative Activity Office has some fantastic news for you. The paperwork and cumbersome processes required to submit and review research grants, ethics, animal care and biosafety applications will be greatly reduced thanks to the implementation of a new web portal created specifically for academic research called ROMEO.
The ROMEO portal streamlines application processes in a variety of ways.
When submitting a research grant, you will no longer have to chase down your Dean for their approval signature on an institutional signature sheet (ISS). The form is built into the system and when you submit, your Dean will receive an email notifying them. They can review your proposal and submit their approval online.
All documentation for each application you submit will be uploaded to your own account – checklists ensure you provide all the required documents so your applications will always be complete when they are submitted.
Once you have completed a certification for animal care, biosafety and human ethics it will always be housed in your account and you can attach it to all future applications.
The system tracks your application as it moves through the approval process, notifying you when a stage is complete or when more work might be required.
Committee members are able to review, comment and approve applications in the system reducing the number of emails and attachments in your inbox.
All of your files will be located in a safe, secure location saving you time and headache when you need to access or retrieve information.
ROMEO (which is the product’s name, not an acronym) is a Canadian research data management system that is housed in Canada, eliminating concerns about proprietary information. The system is widely used amongst Canadian institutions to manage the grant and certification application process. After careful study and evaluation, VIU chose ROMEO due to its security, satisfied customer ratings and robust training support.
Supporting the transition through training
Like all change, even when it is welcome, learning is required to adapt and fully utilize new systems. To alleviate any challenges or concerns encountered by those who will be using ROMEO, the SRCA office is committed to providing robust support while VIU users become comfortable with the new systems.
Training sessions will be held regularly throughout the year at convenient times for users to attend and learn the new system. The schedule can be found here. You can also email romeo@viu.ca to book a one-on-one session. We will also be providing user manuals and short how to videos to support your transition to the new system.
To learn more, visit the VIU ROMEO page.
Please note that starting September 1st, ROMEO will now used for submitting applications for REB, ACC, Biosafety and VIURAC grants will be done using ROMEO. All external applications for research funding will transition to ROMEO during the fall with support of one of VIU’s Research Grant Administrators.
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