Welcome to Research at Boston University 2008, an annual publication highlighting research, scholarship, and creative activity. It has been a year since I joined Boston University as the Associate Provost and Vice President for Research. My time here has coincided with a period of re-evaluation and change, led by President Robert A. Brown, that has engaged the vision and creativity of the entire BU community. As part of our ongoing planning efforts, we are making great strides toward developing a University-wide strategy for strengthening and focusing our research and scholarly activities. More...

Andrei E. Ruckenstein
Associate Provost and Vice President for Research

Welcome to Research at Boston University 2008, an annual publication highlighting research, scholarship, and creative activity. It has been a year since I joined Boston University as the Associate Provost and Vice President for Research. My time here has coincided with a period of re-evaluation and change, led by President Robert A. Brown, that has engaged the vision and creativity of the entire BU community. As part of our ongoing planning efforts, we are making great strides toward developing a University-wide strategy for strengthening and focusing our research and scholarly activities.

This strategy aims to reinforce and enhance our strength in traditional disciplines, which is essential for the health and vitality of our academic enterprise and for supporting first-rate educational programs, while ensuring that Boston University continues to be a relevant and valuable member of both our local community and the increasingly interconnected world in which we live.

Already, a series of campus-wide conversations has begun on the kinds of complex, real-world problems that we as researchers and educators are called to address: sustainability, alternative forms of energy, and the environment; the impact of religion on modern society; technological and biomedical applications of nanoscience and photonics; infectious diseases and global health; public policy and social responsibility; and work and process management in worldwide networks, among others.

Given the complexity of these challenges, academic institutions are increasingly broadening the scope of their vision beyond traditional disciplines. At Boston University, we are developing strong collaborative programs and targeted initiatives to leverage existing strengths and foster meaningful connections and conversations among departments and colleges across our two campuses.

Such multidisciplinary approaches to research provide the basis for training a new generation of scholars who have a deep knowledge of a specific discipline, and who are also capable of understanding how their field fits into the big picture. Since the success of interdisciplinary programs—in both their research and teaching missions—is inextricably tied to the strength and vitality of the traditional disciplines involved, we must ensure that these disciplines remain well supported and vibrant.

Ultimately, Boston University’s success rests with the world-renowned researchers in our laboratories and classrooms. In the last year, I have had the privilege to meet and interact with many of these talented and dedicated teacher-scholars on both the Charles River and Medical campuses.

In this magazine, I am pleased to introduce you to some of these individuals. While they comprise only a small fraction of the faculty as a whole, I hope that their work will convey the remarkable depth and breadth of research, scholarship, and creative activities currently underway in Boston University’s seventeen schools and colleges.

Andrei E. Ruckenstein
Associate Provost and Vice President for Research

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