Talking PERA: Interview with Jamie Mohler and Ken Sandel
In anticipation of the launch of Purdue’s new research administration tool — PERA (Purdue Excellence in Research Administration) — two Office of Research leaders, Jamie Mohler and Ken Sandel, share insights on the two-year implementation process, the transformative impact that PERA will have on research activities across Purdue and essential information for Purdue researchers ahead of PERA’s rollout.
Last year, the Purdue Board of Trustees approved a multimillion-dollar investment for the development of PERA. Can you explain what PERA is and why such a significant investment is being made?
Ken Sandel: PERA is the culmination of a review of our research administration system that goes back more than five years. It will address a critical need at Purdue and is a key step forward by advancing our capacity for research excellence at scale.
PERA is a designed to integrate our research systems under one platform. Once fully implemented, researchers will go to PERA for submitting grant proposals, managing research funding and contracts, and navigating regulatory requirements for committees such as the Institutional Review Board (IRB) and Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC). It will replace the various other systems currently in use and boost efficiency and transparency.
Today, our research teams often have to switch between different platforms for grant management and administrative tasks or rely on paper processes and manual steps to complete their work. By consolidating all these functions into PERA, we are positioning Purdue for significant operational advancement.
You mentioned boosting efficiency as one of PERA’s goals. How will it achieve that?
Jamie Mohler: In addition to serving as a unified platform for managing and monitoring research projects, PERA will automate many processes, enhance transparency and provide researchers a dashboard with a consolidated view of their sponsored project information. Accessing critical data will become significantly easier for research teams, which is a need we have consistently heard.
So, researchers have been requesting these changes?
Jamie Mohler: Yes, our pursuit of this system was faculty driven. Researchers have expressed concerns and frustration with our existing systems. After careful consideration we identified the Huron Research Suite as a centralized platform to replace outdated systems like Coeus and Proposal Information Portal (PIP).
What are the core components of PERA, and how will researchers interact with them?
Ken Sandel: PERA will feature eight modules, each tailored to a specific aspect of research administration. These modules include Grants, both pre-award and post-award; Agreements; and IACUC. Additionally, there will be modules for Export Control, the Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC), Conflict of Interest (COI) and Conflict of Commitment (COC), the Institutional Review Board (IRB), and Financial Forecasting.
When can researchers expect PERA to be available?
Jamie Mohler: Following the Board of Trustees’ approval, we began a two-year implementation process to align PERA with Purdue’s specific needs. The first phase of the rollout begins Oct. 7. At that time, the Grants, Agreements and IACUC modules will go live, with the remaining modules phased in over the next year. The system will be fully operational by December 2025.
In recent communications, we’ve seen reminders about preparing for PERA’s October launch. What do researchers need to know before the system goes live?
Jamie Mohler: As we transition from homegrown applications like PIP, we’ll be transferring a significant amount of data, which requires taking those systems offline temporarily. This will impact some activities.
From mid-September through Oct. 7, researchers planning to submit grant proposals, complete post-award setups, initiate contracts or undertake IACUC-related activities should plan ahead to avoid delays. We’ve prepared a detailed PERA researcher guide to assist with the transition, and our Sponsored Program Services and IACUC teams are available to provide support.
All this information, along with further resources, is available on the PERA website.
Will there be training available for researchers?
Ken Sandel: Yes, multiple training resources will soon be available on the PERA website. These include quick-start guides, reference materials, and both prerecorded, live and virtual training sessions and workshops. We’ve also hosted informational sessions to provide researchers with a high level understanding of PERA’s capabilities. Recordings and FAQs from those sessions are accessible online, and we’ll be offering additional information in the coming weeks.
What do you want people to know about PERA?
Ken Sandel: PERA is a software as a service (SAAS) solution. It is an alternative to traditional on-premise software installations. SAAS is a software licensing and delivery model in which the software is hosted in the cloud, licensed on a subscription basis and accessible via the web. It is not customized for each user, so Purdue will be making changes to our business processes to utilize the full functionality. In the end this type of solution is more scalable, accessible, integrated with our federal government systems and available to users from anywhere there is internet.
PERA seems like a significant leap forward for Purdue’s research operations.
Jamie Mohler: When PERA was first announced, President Mung Chiang remarked that it would elevate Purdue’s research administration to a new level of sophistication and efficiency by integrating and streamlining operations. That vision is very much shared by the entire PERA team, which has worked tirelessly over the last two years to get us to this point. We are certainly grateful to all of them for their investment of time and talent to raise research one brick higher.
Any last thoughts?
Ken Sandel: Remember that PERA is a major upgrade and will likely not be perfect on day one. We have tried to anticipate and prepare contingency plans not only for the migration and conversion of our current data, but also the Oct. 7 go live. Please be patient. We will all be learning a new software and a new way of doing business. We are all excited about PERA and its potential to transform our research operations.
*************
Hear about PERA in this video message from Karen Plaut, executive vice president for research.
Jamie Mohler is associate vice president for scientific integrity and research compliance, research integrity officer and professor.
Ken Sandel is associate vice president, Sponsored Program Services and Senior intellectual property officer.