Research Project Management and Collaboration
The capstone of the Certificate in Research Methods and Grant Writing, this practice-intensive course equips principal investigators, research coordinators, and research office staff to convert an awarded grant into delivered, audited research impact. Learners manage a real or simulated award — inherited from the RKI 105 finale — through the full post-award lifecycle: launch and governance, financial stewardship, collaborative team leadership, monitoring and evaluation, data management, funder reporting, close-out, and positioning for the next funding cycle.
The capstone of the Certificate in Research Methods and Grant Writing, this practice-intensive course equips principal investigators, research coordinators, and research office staff to convert an awarded grant into delivered, audited research impact. Learners manage a real or simulated award — inherited from the RKI 105 finale — through the full post-award lifecycle: launch and governance, financial stewardship, collaborative team leadership, monitoring and evaluation, data management, funder reporting, close-out, and positioning for the next funding cycle.
Instruction & Evaluation
Online / Asynchronous (Self-Paced with Faculty Mentorship)
Self-paced modular instruction with continuous continental access via the CAA Member Portal, supplemented by faculty moderation.
Continuous Assessment & Practical Portfolio
4 auto-graded formative quizzes (one per module); capstone management file (60%) built continuously as learners manage their awarded/simulated grant — award-activation pack, financial-stewardship pack, collaboration pack, M&E and reporting pack, close-out pack; peer review exercise (10%) using funder-style review sheets; reflective submission (10%) on African leadership, equitable partnership, and knowledge sovereignty during implementation; integrated assessment (20%) — timed audit-and-close-out scenario responding to a simulated funder query, audit finding, and mid-project budget crisis.
What You Will Master
- Activate an awarded grant: confirm and negotiate award terms, secure institutional registration and legal/compliance sign-offs, and stand up a project charter, team-role matrix, compliance calendar, and inception-phase plan suited to a resource-constrained African university.
- Exercise financial stewardship: manage budget execution, drawdowns and cash flow, re-budgeting and prior-approval requests, indirect-cost recovery, procurement, and internal controls in line with funder terms and institutional financial regulations, and prepare for Good Financial Grant Practice (GFGP) and statutory audits.
- Lead and coordinate multi-institutional, multi-disciplinary research teams equitably — including sub-award management, consortium communication and decision rights, conflict resolution, and stakeholder/community engagement that honors African leadership and knowledge sovereignty.
- Monitor, evaluate, and adapt implementation: translate the RKI 105 theory of change into a living indicator tracker and risk register, run MEL learning loops, and negotiate design adjustments with funder approval.
- Implement research data management and responsible research conduct during execution, including metadata, secure storage, sharing and preservation, authorship and publication ethics, and compliance with African data-protection and access-and-benefit-sharing regulations.
- Close out compliantly and plan continuity: submit final technical and financial reports on schedule, coordinate close-out audits and asset disposition, archive records, extract lessons learned, and prepare a renewal or next-cycle funding strategy that loops back into RKI 105 practice.
4 Modules
From Award to Action — Launching the Funded Research Project
Moving from award letter to operational project: reading and negotiating conditions of grant, institutional acceptance and registration, GFGP due-diligence self-assessment, compliance calendars, launch roles and kick-off, converting the workplan into a living schedule, governance architecture, project charter, risk register, communication plan, and M&E baselines.
2 Lessons
Financial Stewardship and Funder Compliance
Grant financial management in practice: budget execution, drawdowns, cash-flow forecasting, re-budgeting and prior approvals, salary and stipend management, procurement, indirect-cost recovery, currency and inflation handling, internal controls, reconciliation, funder terms, GFGP standard, audits and audit findings, fraud reporting, and risk management through extension requests.
2 Lessons
Leading People and Partnerships
Leading multi-institutional teams equitably: work packages and RACI matrices, communication cadence, sub-award and sub-grantee management, consortium decision-making, contract/MoU administration, conflict resolution, capacity strengthening, equitable collaboration, stakeholder and community engagement, GESI in implementation, and M&E/MEL learning loops during execution.
2 Lessons
Data, Close-out, and Continuity
Research data management and responsible conduct during implementation, reporting cadence and no-surprises communication, final technical and financial reports, close-out procedures and checklists, asset disposition, final audits, archiving, extension requests, lessons learned, sustainability, and the next funding cycle looping back into RKI 105 practice.
2 Lessons
Weekly Topics
Ready to enrol in RKI106?
Access this course, study modular pedagogical frameworks, and earn verified CPD credits through the CAA member portal.
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