Research Revealed: Broaden Your Impact
February 2020 | Information & Support for the BU Research Community
Insider Insights
- Many faculty consider it a part of their mission to put their research in the hands of the people who need it most. Here are six practical steps you can take this semester to make your research accessible outside of academia. Read more
- Tech tools for making research more diverse & inclusive (Nature)
- Reflections on the scientific community’s “reproducibility crisis” (University of Houston)
Find Funding
- The Evans Center for Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research is seeking applications for faculty-initiated Affinity Research Collaboratives (ARCs) through Monday, April 13. An ARC represents a group of BU investigators and trainees working together to advance research around a disease-related theme.
- The National Science Foundation is accepting applications for the Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program through Monday, July 27.
- Limited submission funding opportunities, as well as other requests for proposal, are publicized in BU’s Research Support funding feed for increased visibility. Anyone interested in listing a research opportunity should reach out to Joe Farmer.
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Manage an Award
- National Institutes of Health (NIH) February and March deadlines are now upon us. Administrative components must be final five business days before deadline, and full proposals submitted to Sponsored Programs three business days before deadline. Don’t forget to make use of the updated proposal summary form, which includes a checklist of important considerations related to what the NIH calls “foreign components”: any significant scientific element or segment of a project performed outside the US. Learn more about federal reporting requirements for international collaborations or visit the Sponsored Programs Blog for other updates.
- NIHNational Institutes of Health has increased its salary cap from $192,300 to $197,300. The new cap may be used for budgeting purposes, effective immediately.
- Personnel activity reports for July through December 2019 were emailed to departments on February 10. Department administrators should review, sign, and return to Post Award Financial Operations via effort@bu.edu by Friday, April 10.
- Department and grants administrators are encouraged to sign up for relevant upcoming trainings, including a two-day orientation on sponsored research in March, an interactive training on the topic of effort reporting in early April, and a late April training about reviewing transactions posted to fund centers, high risk transactions, sponsored research, and gift and endowment accounts.
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Conduct Research
- Federal agencies are calling attention to recent news on the improper transport of biological samples. The US government regulates the import and export of certain biological samples, and researchers who plan to transport such samples must secure the proper permits and documentation in advance of travel. Read more in this recent memo.
- The Association for the Accreditation of Human Research Protection Programs has granted the Charles River Campus Institutional Review Board full reaccreditation status following its November site visit. Reaccreditation signifies that research involving human subjects at BU meets the highest standards for quality and protection. A sincere thanks to all the researchers who participated in this site visit.
- BU’s Animal Care & Use Program is looking ahead to its reaccreditation site visit with the Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care, taking place March 18-19. Researchers who use animals will receive details soon.
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Bring to Market
- National data reveals a gender gap in innovation, with women disclosing fewer inventions and receiving less funding for start-ups. BU Technology Development is committed to shining a light on these issues and helping reverse this trend. At Equity in Innovation, a workshop open to all on Tuesday, March 31, Dr. Dana Kanze, London Business School, will give the keynote talk: “How Women Innovators Can Beat Bias.”
- A series of upcoming pitch workshops will provide hands-on coaching for researchers interested in communicating more effectively with potential investors. Four sessions will be offered on the Charles River and Medical Campuses in February.
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Notes & News
- Early career faculty may be eligible to apply to serve as early career reviewers for the NIH. The program aims to help early career scientists become more competitive as grant applicants through first-hand experience with peer review.
- In September 2020, the NIH will hold a workshop to discuss the inclusion of pediatric, geriatric, and other underrepresented populations in clinical research. The scientific community and other stakeholders are invited to submit comments to shape the workshop through Saturday, February 15.
- BU’s Danielsen Institute has been awarded a $2 million grant from the John Templeton Foundation to fund a three-year, multi-site project on the potential of psychotherapy to improve people’s lives.
- Associate Provost for Computing & Data Science and William Fairfield Warren Distinguished Professor Azer Bestavros, Computer Science (CAS), has been selected to serve on the Advisory Committee of the Computer, Information Science & Engineering Directorate at the National Science Foundation through 2023.
- Professor Cathie Jo Martin, Political Science (CAS), delivered the 2019 Kleh Family Foundation Distinguished Lecture on November 21, 2019, at the Boston University London Centre.
- Associate Professor Jeffrey Furman, Strategy & Innovation (QST), served on a committee of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine on sustaining the bioeconomy.
- Professor Roscoe Giles, Electrical & Computer Engineering (ENG), was elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
- Professor Eric Kolaczyk, Mathematics & Statistics (CAS) and Director of the Hariri Institute for Computing, was recognized as Mosteller Statistician of the Year by the Boston Chapter of the American Statistical Association.
- Professor Joyce Wong, Biomedical Engineering (ENG), was awarded the Clemson Award for Basic Research from the Society for Biomaterials.
- BU Research Compliance veteran Kevin Tuohey was named Chief Safety Officer for the National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories in January. Stepping into Kevin’s previous role as Executive Director of Environmental Health & Safety (EHS) is Bob Whitfield, who most recently served as Director of EHS’s Campus & Clinical Safety Division. EHS contacts for lab personnel have not changed.
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