CRA (Other exams) case studies
CRA · Put your knowledge to work in context.
The Certified Research Administrator (CRA) credential is a professional certification for people who manage sponsored research - pre-award specialists, post-award administrators, grants and contracts staff, departmental research administrators, and compliance officers. It signals that a practitioner understands the full life cycle of a sponsored project, from finding funding and assembling a proposal through award negotiation, financial management, and closeout, and can apply that knowledge under audit and regulatory scrutiny. The CRA case studies are 5 cases and about 3,588 words.
1The Deadline That Moved: A Multi-Institution Proposal With a Missing Subaward Budget
Alvarez, a PI in environmental engineering, plans to submit a three-year, 1.2 million proposal to a federal sponsor whose deadline is 5:00 p.m. Eastern in nine calendar days.
782 words, about 4 min2The Foundation's 25% Cost Share and the In-Kind Lab That Isn't Free
Your institution is submitting a two-year, 400,000 proposal to a private foundation. The foundation requires a 25% cost share ( 100,000) and caps indirect costs at 10% of direct costs; your negotiated federal indirect rate is 56%.
759 words, about 4 min3The NCE, the Vanishing Postdoc, and the Equipment That Arrived Late
An NIH R01 award ends on 30 September. In mid-July, 85,000 remains unspent.
695 words, about 3 min4The 120-Day Cost Transfer That Everyone Signed
On 15 March, a department administrator submits a cost transfer of $48,000 in salary and fringe for a lab technician from a federal award (Award F) to a private foundation award (Award G). The original charges were posted on 15 November, 120 days earlier.
710 words, about 4 min5The Chair's 'Small Favor' and the Split Purchase
The department chair asks you to split a 32,000 order for a specialized centrifuge into three separate purchase orders of 10,500 each. The university's procurement policy requires three competitive quotes and dean approval for any single purchase over 10,000.
642 words, about 3 min