The Office of Academic Medicine at Duke‑NUS Medical School manages a diverse portfolio of grant programmes that support academic medicine, research excellence, and clinical innovation. These include Academic Support Grants, Programme Grants, Talent awards and philanthropic funding.
These grant programmes involve diverse stakeholders, and evaluating unique criteria for eligibility, assessment and approval. As the portfolio has expanded, the Office has had to balance administrative efficiency with robust governance, while ensuring transparency, and compliance across all funding applications.
The challenge
The Office previously relied on a combination of Excel spreadsheets and shared folders to administer grants. While sufficient in the early stages, this approach became increasingly strained as the programmes were scaled and increased in complexity.
Some of the challenges faced include the use of manual processes, which created version control risk and limited visibility across programmes. Tracking application revisions, coordinating internal and external reviewers, and consolidating feedback added significant administrative overhead. Managing multi-level approvals, in particular those involving external reviewers through email and manual follow-ups, increased turnaround time and the risk of oversight. Relying on spreadsheet roll-ups for reporting across programmes also limited strategic visibility.
After grants were awarded, there was also the added complexity of tracking milestones, financial scheduling, in addition to managing variation and extension requests, and compliance documentation, each requiring separate handling and manual consolidation.
As the volumes of applications increased, it became critical to adopt a centralised system to support structured processes, consistent governance, robust reporting and analysis, and reliable record‑keeping.
AMgrants has provided a clearer structure for the tracking of grants from the application stage to its closure. This promotes greater accountability by the various stakeholders and reduces the degree of manual effort. Although certain functions take time to get used to, the system has improved the consistency of our work processes overall. The platform encourages transparency and keeps documentation more organised.
- Senior Assistant Manager, AMgrants Grant AdministratorThe solution
With OmniStar, the Office of Academic Medicine now operates on a unified platform that supports the grants management process from application submission through to post‑award management.
This solution streamlines core administrative workflows, particularly in the handling of applications and preparation of documents. Features such as structured data capture and automated data population also reduce manual data entry and improve efficiency in preparing grant‑related documentation.
In addition, a template‑based document generation function supports the automatic creation of Letters of Award, payment requests, and other essential documents using existing system data.
It also supports complex approval workflows through configurable routing and automated notifications, enabling real‑time status tracking for applicants and administrators.
Beyond process automation, the application management functionality also enables collaboration, allowing applicants to share documents with relevant personnel.
The outcome
The Duke‑NUS Office of Academic Medicine has transitioned from a manual grant administration approach to a controlled, auditable system that provides confidence at key stage of the grant lifecycle.
By centralising grant information and approvals within a single system, the Office has improved traceability and auditability of documents, providing users with access to records of submissions, reviews, decisions, and approvals.
Grant officers now operate within a single platform spanning the full grants lifecycle, from application submission through to post‑award milestone and financial management, eliminating the administrative overhead of reconciling information across spreadsheets and shared folders.
Overall, the platform supports more informed decision-making and robust grant governance, ensuring submissions are both compliant and aligned with reporting requirements.
Why you should try OmniStar
Complete Solution
Improved Efficiency
Enhanced Transparency
Streamlined Coordination
Flexible Configuration
Scalable Performance
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