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  • The Research Is Not The Manuscript

    April 8, 2026
    by Michael Overton, PhD Original post
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  • A split-screen conceptual image comparing manual and AI-assisted work. On the left, a female professional at a desk reviews physical paperwork and folders labeled 'IRB Reviews' and 'Grant Compliance' with a highlighter. On the right, hands hold a sleek digital tablet displaying data dashboards and glowing, stylized AI brain graphics. A glowing question mark sits on the dividing line between the two sides, questioning the difference in how the work is accomplished.

    When Can AI Be Used in Research Administration?

    March 26, 2026
    When Can AI Be Used in Research Administration? It Comes Down to One Question: Does It Matter How the Work Got Done?  By Nate Layman AI tools are remarkably capable, and they are getting better fast. They can digest hundreds of pages of sponsor guidelines in seconds, draft polished narrative text from rough notes, and…
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  • From Copiers to AI: The Technology Evolution of Research Administration and Why Adoption Matters  

    March 10, 2026
    Research administration has always been a profession defined by reaction. New regulations arrive and we react.
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  • Digitizing the Last Mile: OCR in Research Administration

    February 25, 2026
    University research departments receive billions of dollars in federal grants each year, but managing those grants is surprisingly old-fashioned. When a university gets a grant award, the official notice arrives as a PDF, and staff have to manually copy all the important details
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  • Beyond Embeddings: Why Relationships Matter in RAG

    December 19, 2025
    Structured RAG, presented by Python creator Guido van Rossum at PyBay 2025, addresses a fundamental limitation of classic RAG: the loss of relationships between information fragments. Instead of embedding raw text into vectors, structured RAG extracts entities, relationships, and actions from conversations and stores them in queryable databases with inverted indices.
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  • From Clutter to Clarity: How to Build Your First Automated Workflow in Vandalizer

    December 2, 2025
    In this guide, you’ll learn how to build your first workflow by following a real-world example — creating a Request for Applications (RFA) checklist from start to finish.
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  • a handshake with the logos of university of idaho and southern utah university

    There’s Power in Partnership: How Two Higher Ed Institutions Are Pioneering AI Innovation in RA.

    November 14, 2025
    The research enterprise is never static, and neither are the Research Administration (RA) offices that work to turn its gears. RA offices are always responding to shifting conditions in the field, such as developing compliance requirements and growth in their institutions’ research portfolios.
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  • University of Idaho Pioneers AI in Research Management, Earns National Recognition

    November 12, 2025
    Chris Nomura, U of I’s Vice President for Research and Economic Development, received the award for his role in advancing the university’s Office of Research and Economic Development and its AI and Data Science Team.
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  • Introducing Vandalizer: An AI Tool Built for Research Administration 

    October 30, 2025
    By Jason Cahoon, Nathan Layman and Dashiell Tyler Central to the AI4RA project is the development of open-source artificial intelligence (AI) tools that are designed to augment Research Administration (RA) workflows. Technological augmentation is in high demand across the RA field, as Research Administrators (RAs) navigate evolving research and data environments. AI tools show exciting…
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  • Welcome to AI4RA Tech Talk, A Shared Space for Building Technical Knowledge

    August 8, 2025
    Welcome to Tech Talk! We invite your perspective…
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