About the National Breast Cancer Foundation
The National Breast Cancer Foundation (NBCF) is Australia's leading not-for-profit organisation funding world-class breast cancer research towards its vision of Zero Deaths from breast cancer. NBCF facilitates a world-class meritorious peer-review system that invites scientists and clinicians from across the country to apply to NBCF’s annual grant scheme. This involves independent and rigorous assessment of each application, with external assessment from national scientists, clinician researchers and those who have been directly affected by a breast cancer diagnosis.
NBCF, on average, receives 90 grant applications each year and invites around 50 scientific and clinical expert reviewers, along with a panel of about 14 consumer advisors, to assess each application. This requires a sophisticated management solution to streamline the grant application, assessment, approval and reporting process.
The challenge
NBCF required a comprehensive system that could rationalise the processing of multiple forms and documents associated with NBCF’s grant application scheme, from the pre-award stage through to the post-award stage. Previously, NBCF used separate systems for the pre-award and post-award impact reporting processes as well as a third internal system for capturing financial information. This was complicated for both internal grants administration and for external applicants and reviewers who had to use two separate systems for the different stages.
OmniStar had the ability to combine our three systems into one to make everything easier from an administration perspective but also from an applicant and reviewer perspective. The user interface is something applicants are familiar and comfortable using, which is important to us because we want the process to be as easy as possible to free up time for applicants to focus on their research.
Associate Professor Samantha Oakes Director, Research Investment, National Breast Cancer Foundation
The solution
OmniStar provided NBCF with the ability to streamline its three different management systems into one user-friendly solution. Its accessible interface and intelligent system has allowed NBCF to simplify its grant application, reporting and reviewing processes. This has allowed NBCF and its collaborators to focus their energy on their research goals.
Pre-award and Post-award
Manages pre-award and post-award processes in one system
Usability
Is user-friendly for internal and external users
Flexible
Is configurable to their specific needs
Automated
Can automate processes
Accessible
Has the ability to easily view the different stages of the granting process
Efficient
Streamlines the process of submitting and reviewing forms and reports
The outcome
Thanks to OmniStar's unique capability to build and integrate advanced custom features, NBCF was able to create a calculator for measuring the career disruption that might come from applicants taking extended leave due to parental obligations or illness. This automated the process of calculating career categories, which greatly of determining appropriate salary levels and streamlined the eligibility checking process.
The flexibility of OmniStar also means that as NBCF seeks to further improve, streamline, and automate its granting processes the platform can easily be adapted to meet their new needs.
With OmniStar, NBCF has been able to rationalise three management systems into a singular platform, allowing them to improve their processes and focus more of their resources on their research goal of zero deaths from breast cancer.
We care about zero deaths from breast cancer, we don’t want our applicants or grantees spending all their time submitting and reviewing forms.
Associate Professor Samantha Oakes Director, Research Investment, National Breast Cancer Foundation
Why you should try OmniStar
Complete solution
Rationalised multiple elements of grant management across the research lifecycle into one cohesive solution, including funding and pre-award to post-award grant management.
Improved accessibility
Improved accessibility for internal and external users with a user-friendly interface that saves time and reduces strain on administrative resources.
Automated processes
Automated grant and review processes have freed up resources for accomplishing organisational goals.
Streamlined submissions
Streamlined the process external collaborators follow for submitting reports and reviews by collating multiple platforms into one user-friendly portal.
Simplified administration
Features were custom built for unique administrative needs, simplifying complex and labour-intensive processes.
Enhanced visibility
Enhanced visibility of the progress of research projects, with improved data management and real-time dashboards that can visualise the full research lifecycle.
Enhanced personalisation
Organisation-specific features were incorporated, allowing for more accurate and streamlined data collection and management. The enhanced flexibility of the management solution keeps options open for further changes as organisational processes evolve.
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Using OmniStar, UWA was able to shift from an outdated paper-based research management system to a fully integrated, digital solution that could evolve with the university's growing compliance requirements.
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