Society of Research Administrators International

What Society of Research Administrators International does

Society of Research Administrators International (SRAI), founded in 1967 and headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit professional membership association (EIN 95-2934250) serving research administrators at universities, hospitals, nonprofits, and commercial research institutions across more than 45 countries and 1,073 institutions. Its mission is to empower research administrators globally through knowledge, resources, and community. The organization's portfolio spans four interlocking product lines: professional development (the LevelUP Micro-Credential Program and ten certificate programs covering CTRA, FM, IRAM, GRM, LD, NIH, PRAM, PA, RCI, and RL domains, structured against the Professional Development Framework with competency levels 0–4); conferences and events (Annual Meeting, Global Research Management Summit, Financial Management Conference, Research Administration Conference, Senior Research Administrator Leadership Program, and section-level meetings); publications and content (peer-reviewed Journal of Research Administration via ScholarOne, monthly Catalyst newsletter, monthly ShopTalk podcast on Spotify, and member-only Federal Pulse policy briefing); and institutional services (Professional Assessments and federally funded research and grant projects including NSF "Filling the Gap" and National Job Classification System projects).

SRAI's technology stack consists of an Impexium-based online membership management platform, a learning management system, a Higher Logic-powered online community platform organized into six geographic sections (Canada, International, Midwest, Northeast, Southern, Western) and special interest communities, plus webinar and podcast delivery infrastructure. Integrations include ScholarOne for manuscript submission, DocuSign for author agreements, Wufoo for newsletter submissions, Spotify for podcast distribution, and Snappy for merchandise e-commerce; no public API, SDK, or developer portal is documented. Distribution is primarily direct via the website and member portal, supplemented by in-person events, virtual training, and a tiered corporate partner program with Gold partners (Attain Partners, Huron, infoEd Global) and Silver partners (Cayuse, Digital Science).

The business model combines four recurring and transactional revenue streams: recurring membership dues (subscription model across individual and institutional categories), conference and event registration fees (transactional), certificate and micro-credential program fees (professional services with multi-year completion windows), and tax-deductible donations and contributions (the 501(c)(3) structure accepting philanthropic support). No pricing is publicly disclosed and revenue is not reported. Leadership includes Executive Director Evan Roberts and Chief Operating Officer Ellen Quinn (also serving as Data Protection Officer); the organization is governed by an elected Board of Directors and operates without parent-company control, external investors, or for-profit ownership.

Name

Society of Research Administrators International

Legal name

Society of Research Administrators International, Inc.

Website

https://srainternational.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1967

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

SRAI is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit professional membership association founded in 1967 that serves research administrators at universities, hospitals, nonprofits, and commercial institutions across 45+ countries and 1,073 institutions worldwide through certificate programs, conferences, micro-credentials, publications, and an online community.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Professional Association Services

NAICS

Professional Organizations (813920), Business, Professional, Labor, Political, and Similar Organizations (8139)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600), Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

Research Administration & Compliance (Sponsored Programs, IRB/REB) (EDADAKAH)

akta.pro secondary industry

Research Administration & Grants Management Support (Pre/Post-Award, Compliance) (EDAEALAO)

Keywords

• Professional membership association
• Research administration training
• Certificate programs
• Continuing professional education
• Academic conference services

Headquarters

HQ city

Arlington

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Membership Dues: Annual membership fees providing access to resources, community, professional development, and member-only content including Federal Pulse
2. Conference and Event Fees: Registration fees for Annual Meeting, Global Research Management Summit, Financial Management Conference, Research Administration Conference, and section meetings
3. Certificate Programs: Fees for completing certificate programs including Clinical Trials Research Administration, Financial Management, Global Research Management, and others offered at conferences and virtual events
4. Donations and Contributions: Tax-deductible donations as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization supporting the mission of empowering research administrators

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

SRAI is a 501(c)(3) professional membership organization that sells annual memberships, certificate and micro-credential programs (LevelUP and 10 specialty certificates), multiple conferences (Annual Meeting, Global Research Management Summit, Financial Management Conference, Research Administration Conference, Senior Research Administrator Leadership Program), institutional Professional Assessments, and a suite of publications (peer-reviewed Journal of Research Administration, Catalyst newsletter, ShopTalk podcast, Federal Pulse briefing) to research administrators working at universities, hospitals, nonprofits, and commercial research institutions across 45+ countries.

Product overview

SRAI is a professional membership organization offering a unified ecosystem of products and services for research administrators globally. The core offering consists of: (1) Professional Development — the LevelUP Micro-Credential Program and 10 Certificate Programs (CTRA, FM, IRAM, GRM, LD, NIH, PRAM, PA, RCI, RL) built on the Professional Development Framework, which maps competency levels across Pre-Award, Post-Award, Compliance, Leadership, and other domains; (2) Conferences and Events — the Annual Conference, Global Research Management Summit, Financial Management Conference, Research Administration Conference, and Senior Research Administrator Leadership Program; (3) Publications and Content — the Journal of Research Administration (peer-reviewed, published twice yearly via ScholarOne), the monthly Catalyst newsletter, the monthly ShopTalk podcast (via Spotify), and the Federal Pulse member briefing; (4) Institutional Services — Professional Assessments for organizations seeking expert evaluation of research operations; and (5) Community — Online Member Communities organized by geographic sections and special interest areas. NSF and EU-funded research and grant projects (Filling the Gap, National Job Classification, Research Security Training, RM Framework) extend SRAI's reach into workforce development and policy.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Journal of Research Administration (JRA): SRAI's premier peer-reviewed academic publication dedicated to advancing the field of research administration through quality scholarship and professional development. Published twice yearly.
• Catalyst
• Federal Pulse
• ShopTalk Podcast
• LevelUP Micro-credential Program
• SRAI Professional Development Framework

Products and services

• SRAI Membership
• LevelUP Micro-Credential Program

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration5 records

AI capability2 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered gold partner and silver partner.

• Attain Partnersgold partnerGTM or Marketing PartnerGold level partner providing services to SRAI membership. Displayed as a partner in SRAI's partner program supporting the research administration community.
• Huron Consulting Groupgold partnerGTM or Marketing PartnerGold level partner providing consulting services to the research administration community. Displayed as a partner supporting SRAI's mission and membership.
• infoEd Globalgold partnerTechnology or IntegrationGold level partner providing research administration technology solutions. Offers products and services relevant to SRAI members managing sponsored programs.
• Cayusesilver partnerTechnology or IntegrationSilver level partner providing research administration software solutions including grants management and compliance tools for institutions.
• Digital Sciencesilver partnerTechnology or IntegrationSilver level partner providing research technology solutions including workflow management, laboratory information management, and grant tracking systems.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• NCURA (National Council of University Research Administrators): NCURA is the most direct competitor to SRAI, also serving research administrators at universities and research institutions with conferences, publications (Research Management Review), and professional development programs. NCURA and SRAI occupy adjacent but overlapping niches in the research administration profession.
• AUTM (Association of University Technology Managers): AUTM serves university technology transfer and commercialization professionals — a closely adjacent professional association within the research enterprise. Members frequently overlap with SRAI's institutional buyers and both organizations address sponsored programs, intellectual property, and research compliance.
• PRIM&R (Public Responsibility in Medicine and Research): PRIM&R serves research ethics and compliance professionals working with IRBs and research integrity programs — directly overlapping SRAI's Research Compliance and Integrity (RCI) certificate area and federal regulatory focus.
• Council on Governmental Relations (COGR): COGR represents major research universities on federal regulatory matters affecting research administration, with overlapping membership and policy advocacy focus areas. Comparable member institutions and shared engagement with NIH, NSF, and federal research policy.

Emerging players

• ARMA International: ARMA serves records and information governance professionals with certification (CRM) and educational programming. It addresses an adjacent governance and compliance function within research institutions and competes for similar institutional training budgets.
• Academic Impressions: Academic Impressions provides training and conferences for higher education administrators across research administration, compliance, and leadership — overlapping with SRAI's professional development offerings for institutional buyers seeking alternative providers.

Broad incumbents

• Huron Consulting Group: Huron is a Gold SRAI partner and a major consulting firm serving higher education and research institutions with operational, financial, and research administration advisory services. Competes with SRAI's Professional Assessments offering while also partnering with the association.
• infoEd Global: infoEd is a Gold SRAI partner and a research administration software vendor with grants management and compliance tools. It increasingly provides training content to the same institutional buyers SRAI serves, making it both a partner and adjacent service provider.
• ASAE (American Society of Association Executives): ASAE is the broader umbrella association for association professionals and provides benchmarking, governance, and operational best practices that are directly applicable to SRAI's association management model.

Regional players

• Research!America: Research!America is a research advocacy alliance focused on federal R&D funding policy. It addresses a related but distinct stakeholder base (policymakers, advocates, and the public) versus SRAI's practitioner focus.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/SocietyRAIntl
• Facebookfacebook.com/SocResAdminINTL

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Society of Research Administrators International