What's the E2RA Course?
E2RA stands for Education & Excellence for Research Administrators. The E2RA course is a WCM-wide educational program focused on research grants administration. It was first launched in the Spring of 2016 at Weill Cornell Medicine. Since then, more than 325 research administrators from WCM have proudly graduated from it.
The E2RA Course provides education about research grant's administration. The E2RA Course supports research administrators in developing the skills that they need to excel in their professional responsibilities and provide the best administrative support to their researchers.
The E2RA Course is organized into two modules that cover the life cycle of research grants:
1-The E2RA Pre-Award Module: it focuses on understanding a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA), preparing a grant application, including the budgets and administrative requirements.
2- The E2RA Post-Award Module: it focuses on managing a grant once awarded by a funding agency. It covers all steps from receiving a Notice of Award (NOA), setting up a WBS grant account, understanding effort compliance, overseeing all non-financial changes, and monitoring financial transactions on grant accounts, to completing a Research Performance Progress Report (RPPR) for NIH awards.
This E2RA curriculum provides more details 
E2RA -Curriculum-2025.pdf
For any questions, please email Dr. Helene Brazier-Mitouart, Education Manager, at heb2020@med.cornell.edu
E2RA Fundamentals Course
The E2RA Fundamentals Course
The E2RA Fundamentals Course provides a detailed overview of the grants administration process from conception to closeout. Participants will gain a solid and practical understanding of research funding agencies, the grant application process, as well as efficient and compliant post-award management of grants. The E2RA Fundamentals Course is divided into a Pre-Award Module and a Post-Award Module.
The E2RA Graduation Certificate: To complete and validate the E2RA Fundamentals Course, participants should attend 75% of the live E2RA Fundamentals sessions, complete all pod activities, and the two E2RA validation quizzes for which they should get 75% of correct answers (One for the Pre-Award module, and one for the Post-Award module). Upon completion of the E2RA Fundamentals Course, participants will receive their E2RA Fundamentals Graduation Certificate during the in-person E2RA Graduation Ceremony.
The E2RA course is here to support everyone's education in research grant administration, and flexibility will meet participants where they are. Don't hesitate to discuss your situation with the E2RA Instructor.
What Will You Learn in the E2RA Course?
What Will You Learn in the E2RA Course?
- Participants will get an overview of processes relevant to research grants’ administration from inception to completion, including relevant and up-to-date information concerning grants administration (policies and best practices from NIH and WCM).
- Participants will develop in-depth knowledge and skills relevant to research grants’ administration, ranging from the application process and management of awards at WCM.
- Participants will become savvy with calculations relevant to research grants’ budgets and grants post-award management such as calculations associated with re-budgeting situations, financial modifications, or effort variation.
- Participants will better anticipate their roles and responsibilities in the grants administration processes.
- Participants will better support investigators when it comes to their grants.
Meet the E2RA Educator
Meet the E2RA Educator
Dr. Helene Brazier-Mitouart is an educator at heart. She is passionate about helping others learn and master what they need in their professional career in research administration to thrive and shine every day. Helene launched the E2RA Course in 2016 and is committed to fostering a fun and challenging learning environment where participants build up knowledge, skills, and self-confidence so they can be successful in their current professional positions and future endeavors. Helene is dedicated to helping participants build their autonomy and confidence in their daily management of research grants' administration. Dr. Brazier-Mitouart obtained her Ph.D. in Biology in 2008 in France. In 2014, she completed her post-doctorate training at WCM, performing research on bone metastasis from breast cancer. She taught in middle schools and colleges between 2012 and 2014 and enjoyed it very much. Helene’s core motivation is to encourage people to learn new concepts, master new skills, and discover all they can do with this new knowledge.
Congratulations to all E2RA Graduates (325+) who make our community knowledgeable and so strong.
Our E2RA community of Graduates keeps growing, with now more than 325 E2RA Graduates since the first E2RA cohort from E2RA Spring 2016.