The presentation to the Council on Governmental Relations (COGR) provided an update from the Research Business Models (RBM) Working Group, focusing on efforts to address federal administrative and regulatory burdens on research in compliance with Section 201 of the American Innovation and Competitiveness Act (AICA). The Act mandates the establishment of an interagency working group tasked with reviewing and recommending improvements to regulations affecting federally funded research, so as to enhance efficiency while maintaining transparency and accountability. Key priorities include streamlining grant proposal formats, developing a centralized database for researcher profiles, establishing a repository for required assurances, and simplifying mandatory progress reports to emphasize performance outcomes. The presentation outlined progress in these areas, such as proposals for simplified grant applications and improvements in reporting, as well as the establishment of centralized systems to support these goals.
The RBM Working Group emphasized the importance of broad stakeholder engagement—including academic researchers, institutions, industry, and the public—in ensuring that reforms are effective and meaningful. Ongoing priorities involve building upon previous recommendations from oversight and advisory bodies, continuously reprioritizing activities to address emerging needs, and targeting achievable initiatives to ease unnecessary administrative burdens across the federal research landscape. The group highlighted its commitment to maintaining clear communication with COGR and other partners about ongoing and forthcoming initiatives, and encouraged open dialogue to set mutual expectations regarding priorities and desired outcomes for reducing research administration burden.
