Research Revealed: Underwater Research, Foreign Talent Recruitment Programs, and More

Spotlight

Meet the Woman Who Trains BU Researchers to Scuba Dive

Underwater research informs our understanding of the oceans, the organisms that live in them, and their interactions with people. At BU, Lizzie McNamee, dive safety officer for the University’s scientific diving program, trains new research divers on all aspects of scuba safety, including equipment prep and use, hand signal communication, emergency rescues, and the use of scientific tools underwater. Read more

Research Funding

Industry Funding for Technology Development

Proposals for these opportunities must be submitted by BU Sponsored Programs and require review by Technology Development prior to submission. Learn more

Sony Research Award Program: The Faculty Innovation Award offers up to $100k to conduct research in information technology, devices and materials, and biomedical and life science. The Focused Research Award funds up to $150k to conduct research in any of 12 specified areas of interest (e.g. AI-based digital human content creation, interactive experiences with virtual agents). BU’s internal deadline is Monday, September 2.
Samsung Global Outreach Program: The Samsung Global Research Outreach program funds innovative research for up to $150k related to machine intelligence, semiconductor metrology, new electric materials, interconnect, new computing and device, or environment and energy for sustainability. BU’s internal deadline is Friday, August 9.

Large Federal Funding Opportunities

An updated listing of center-level funding opportunities is available on the Federal Relations website (Kerberos log-in required).

New Resources for Foundation Funding

BU Foundation Relations helps faculty secure private institutional funding by simplifying the proposal process for faculty, facilitating communication with foundations, assisting with administrative tasks like setting up portals so PIs can focus on scientific content, and helping craft strong proposals. Learn more on the new Foundation Relations website, in these helpful FAQs, and this resource for early career faculty, or find the best contact for each academic unit on the office’s new contact page.

Limited Submission Opportunities

Faculty require institutional endorsement for the following opportunities. All current competitions can be found at bu.infoready4.com.

Extensive Database for Funding Across Disciplines

BU offers all faculty and staff a free subscription to Pivot-RP, a database updated daily with federal, non-federal, foundation, and private funding opportunities in every discipline. With the BU subscription, members can save search criteria and receive weekly updates on new and upcoming funding opportunities. Learn how to set up your account and get started on the Office of Research website.

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Grant Management

Revised F&A Rates

BU recently negotiated new Facilities & Administrative (F&A) cost rates with the Department of Health & Human Services for fiscal year 2025 and beyond. The new rates took effect July 1, 2024. Federal and non-federal budget templates have been updated to reflect the new rates. Reach out to your Sponsored Programs pre-award officer with questions.

Postdoctoral Compensation

Effective January 1, 2025, BU will be increasing the salary and stipend minimum for all current BU postdocs:

0-2 years of BU experience: $67,500
More than 2 years of BU experience: $70,000

All new proposals submitted through Sponsored Programs require postdoc salaries to be budgeted at the new institutional minimums. All new and current postdoc appointments as of January 1, 2025, must reflect the new salary and stipend minimums, as appropriate to the postdoc’s year(s) of service. Learn more on the Office of Research website.

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Ethics & Compliance

Foreign Talent Recruitment Programs

Malign foreign talent recruitment programs (MFTRPs) are programs, positions, or activities in which a foreign country of concern (presently, China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran) or an entity based in a foreign country of concern compensates an individual in the US for engaging in certain actions benefitting the foreign country.

BU’s new policy prohibiting participation in such programs went into effect on May 20, 2024 for all researchers funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and will go into effect on August 9, 2024 for all research, regardless of funding source. For more information, please review the frequently asked questions on MFTRPs and BU’s recently updated Research Security website.

New Animal Science Center Director

With the retirement of Steve Niemi, Colleen Thurman was promoted to director and acting veterinarian at the BU Animal Science Center (ASC). Dr. Thurman has been at BU for five years as clinical veterinarian at the ASC and senior clinical veterinarian at the National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories. She has established strong working relationships with PIs across both campuses, authored protocols and procedures to streamline research, represented BU at national biocontainment meetings, and hosted international colleagues. Her experience as an active member of BU’s community of animal veterinarians will be an asset to the ASC’s continued success.

BioRAFT is Now SciShield

BioRAFT, BU’s research management platform, is now called SciShield. The rebranded platform will continue to be used to manage trainings, inspections, chemical inventory, hazardous waste pickups, radiological permit registrations, and a variety of other functions. Going forward, the website (bu.bioraft.com) will automatically redirect to the new URL, and no action is required from research teams. The platform will be down for one hour on Friday, July 19 for the transition.

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Collaboration & Impact

Artists, Scholars, and Activists Explore Forced Displacement

Complex problems benefit from creative exploration, nuanced scholarship, and stories told from lived experiences. This spring, the BU Center on Forced Displacement launched a interdisciplinary, multi-genre magazine to bring together artists, activists, researchers, and displaced people to better understand displacement and find solutions. The quarterly, peer-reviewed magazine features original essays, book reviews, op-eds, artwork, poetry, photography, short stories, and more. The theme for the next edition is pedagogy and education on forced displacement, and submissions are due Friday, August 16.

Plan a Safer and More Effective Clinical Study

The General Clinical Research Unit within BU’s Clinical & Translational Science Institute provides support to clinical studies, from recruitment, training, and interpretation to biospecimen collection and storage and investigational product administration. The team of clinical research assistants, research navigators, clinical coordinators, and laboratory processing experts offers robust support in study implementation and institutional review board processes, ensuring your research meets the highest standards of quality and compliance. A new high risk research unit will be available soon.

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Notes & News

New Leadership: Thomas Bifano stepped into the role of vice president & associate provost ad interim for research on Monday, July 1. He will also continue to direct the BU Photonics Center. Gloria Waters, who led BU research for the last decade, was recently named the University’s provost and chief academic officer. Read more

Professor Michael Albro, Mechanical Engineering (ENG); Associate Professor Rachel Brulé, Global Development Policy (Pardee); Assistant Professor Ana Fiszbein, Biology (CAS); Assistant Professor Jonathan Huggins, Mathematics & Statistics (CAS); Assistant Professor Wenchao Li, Electrical & Computer Engineering (ENG); Assistant Professor Andrew Sabelhaus, Mechanical Engineering (ENG); and Assistant Professor Rabia Yazicigil, Electrical & Computer Engineering (ENG), were awarded NSF Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) awards.

Dean Mariette DiChristina (COM) moderated fireside chats with the leaders of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine at their annual climate crossroads summit on July 16 and 17.

Professor Randall Ellis, Economics (CAS), won the Victor R. Fuchs Award for Lifetime Contributions to the Field of Health Economics, the highest award of the American Society of Health Economists.

Professor Judith G. Gonyea, Social Research (SSW), was awarded the Barbara J. Berkman Award for Outstanding Interdisciplinary Research, Practice, or Policy in Aging and Health Care by the Gerontological Society of America.

A group of faculty and leadership from the Institute for Global Sustainability discussed BU’s research on climate and health with the US Global Change Research Program, which is co-chaired by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the Environmental Protection Agency.

Associate Professor Katherine Iverson, Psychiatry (Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine), received $6 million from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute to study a comprehensive, personalized intervention for patients who have experienced intimate partner violence.

Assistant Professor Heidi Meyer, Psychological & Brain Sciences (CAS), was awarded a Brain Research Foundation Seed Grant to support her project, “Capturing and constraining neuronal ensembles of fear memories to curb anxiety.”

Assistant Professor Solomon Owusu, Global Development Policy (Pardee), and Associate Professor David Lagakos, Economics (CAS), were awarded an Incubation Grant from the Global Development Policy Center’s Human Capital Initiative for their project, “Why are measured hours of work so low for agricultural workers?”

Professor Benjamin Sovacool, Earth & Environment (CAS) and director of the Institute for Global Sustainability, was one of 20 experts selected to represent the United States at the Seventh EU-US Transportation Research Symposium, which was held at the National Academies in Washington, DC, in June. Sovacool was part of an exploratory group that led discussion of “Ensuring a Just Transition to Net-Zero Transport.”

Associate Provost for Community & Inclusion and Professor Victoria Sahani (LAW) testified before the House Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet regarding litigation financed by third-party investors on Wednesday, June 12.

Assistant Professor Michelle Teplensky, Biomedical Engineering (ENG), was named a 2024 Beckman Young Investigator. She and her team will receive $600k over four years to engineer vaccine responses through nanomaterial design, with implications for the treatment of infectious diseases.

Associate Professor Brian Walsh, Mechanical Engineering (ENG), discussed heliophysics research and engineering with Massachusetts Congressional offices on Wednesday, June 12.

Assistant Professor Meg Younger, Biology (CAS), was named a 2024 Pew Scholar in the Biomedical Sciences and Postdoctoral Fellow Florencia Fernandez-Chiappe was named a 2024 Pew Latin American Fellow in the Biomedical Sciences. The awards are given by The Pew Charitable Trusts, a nonprofit that uses data to address the challenges of our changing world.

Professor Xin Zhang, Mechanical Engineering (ENG), has been selected to receive the 2024 Robert Henry Thurston Lecture Award from the American Society for Mechanical Engineers.

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