Contents
Latest Updates
Access to the Research Portal
Troubleshooting
Known Issues
Feedback
Need Help?
Introductory Videos
Latest Updates
Access to the Research Portal
Faculty Access
- All faculty with current or pending research, and/or who are assigned as project managers on non-sponsored projects, have automatic access to the Research Portal.
- Investigators see their own portfolios upon login, including sponsored projects on which they have a key role.
- Investigators need Row-Level Security (RLS) access to see non-sponsored projects.
- Principal Investigators can see salary details for their projects. Salary Access role is required to see non-sponsored project salary.
Staff Access
- Permanent Northwestern staff who have access to the research or financial folders in Cognos BI reporting have automatic access to the Research Portal. To request access, use the “Expense Entry, Procurement, Payment and GL Journals” or Cognos Reporting “Sponsored Program Management” or “Monthly Financial” checkbox (depending on which form) on the security form.
- Temporary staff cannot be granted access to the Research Portal.
- Research administrators are able to view sponsored projects across the institution.
- Sensitive information like salary and non-sponsored/discretionary funds require the same security access that are currently in place in other systems.
Salary Security
- Investigators can see salary information for sponsored projects for which they are the principal investigator or the primary project principal investigator. They can see non-sponsored project salary if they are the project manager, have NU Financials security access to the project, and have the Salary Access role.
- Staff with Departmental Administrator, Research Administrator, or Research Portal Access InfoEd roles can see salary details for all sponsored projects.
- Staff members can access to non-sponsored project salary if they have NU Financials security access and have the Salary Access role.
- Investigators cannot see salary information for other faculty on the Project Team and People pages.
Frequently Asked Security Questions
Visit the Knowledge Base article Accessing Financial and Salary Information in Research Portal for details on how to request changes to security.
Troubleshooting
Blank Screen
Refresh your browser if information does not load on a page.
Browsers
Chrome is the preferred browser.
Internet Explorer is not supported.
Project Not Listed
For Non-Sponsored Projects, make sure you have security access to see the project (see Financial Management Systems Security Access Forms). Investigators must be listed as the Manager of a project in order for it to appear in their portfolio.
Also, see the Data Guide for details about funds and accounts that are excluded from the Portal.
Non-Sponsored Project Displays No Current Fiscal Year Activity
In September-October, you may see no budget or other activity because the previous fiscal year is still being closed and residual funds transferred over.
Charges Appear Incorrect
If you have questions about charges to a project, please contact your department financial or research administrator.
Proposal Should Be Removed From Pending List
If you know that a pending proposal will not be funded, click on the proposal in the Pending list and click the Mark as Not Funded button on the pop-up page. This action will send an email to SR requesting the update. Note that proposals submitted in InfoEd will be locked in the Submitted state when Northwestern transitions to CERES and cannot be updated.
Known Issues
Expense Transaction Inconsistency
In the Expenses by Month overview, monthly expense totals match the Current Period Expense amounts on the GM045 – Sponsored Project Budget Statement (column B) and are based on accounting date.
However, transactions that do not have a General Ledger Post Date on the GL008 – Revenue and Expense Activity Report are not currently displayed, although they are still considered in the monthly expense totals (examples may include some expense reports and vouchers).
Projections
The Projections feature is not working consistently at this time.
Feedback
Use the Provide Feedback button to report an issue, or if you have a suggestion to improve the application. This button can be found in the lower right corner of most Portal pages.
Need Help?
Contact the IT Support Center: consultant@northwestern.edu or 847-491-4357 (1-HELP), option 2
Introductory Videos (from the project launch)
Overview of the Northwestern Research Portal (55s)
Sponsored Projects on the Northwestern Research Portal (1m 44s)
Non-Sponsored and Pending Projects on the Northwestern Research Portal (47s)
Projections on the Northwestern Research Portal (1m 02s)
Subcontracts on the Northwestern Research Portal (1m 33s)