Research Revealed: Video Diaries from Reopened Labs

August 2020 | Information & Support for the BU Research Community

Insider Insights

  • BU’s NEIDL Profiled for “Long Game” Coronavirus Research
    A July New Yorker feature goes inside the National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories, where researchers are in steadfast pursuit of COVID-19 treatments.
  • Behind the Scenes at Kilachand Center
    Video diaries from on-campus researchers provide a snapshot of life in research labs under new safety protocols and physical distancing guidelines.
  • The Power of Publicity
    When BU engineers found a vulnerability in Bluetooth devices, the story took off. Learn how they teamed up with the University’s editorial and PR teams, plus five lessons for other faculty promoting new research.
  • Reflections on the culture of racism in academic science (Nature)
  • Tips for reopening your lab with sustainability in mind (Promega)
  • Productivity tools for working remotely (University of Houston)

Find Funding

  • The new Center for Antiracist Research is accepting applications from BU faculty for research and policy teams focused on racial disparities related to COVID-19 by Monday, August 24. 
  • Interested in securing Department of Defense funding? Join a how-to workshop with consultants from Lewis-Burke Associates on Thursday, September 17.
  • Campus Climate Lab is soliciting ideas for research projects to advance sustainability at BU through Monday, September 14.
  • Our listing of COVID-19 research opportunities includes over 100 funding calls from federal agencies, foundations, and industry.

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Manage an Award

  • Grant administrators are invited to access a suite of new trainings, including recordings of live sessions on research performance progress reports and outgoing subawards, as well as Fundamentals of Research Administration, a self-paced curriculum with 20-30 minute modules covering the entire grant project lifecycle.
  • Personnel activity reports were distributed for all employees paid from sponsored research funds between January and June 2020 on Monday, August 10. Department administrators should review, sign, and return to Post Award Financial Operations via effort@bu.edu by Friday, October 9.

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Conduct Research

  • The University’s phased return to in-person research is ongoing. The Office of Research continues to accept recovery plans from faculty principal investigators (PIs) who wish to activate their research groups or increase lab density according to recently revised occupancy limits. PIs submitting recovery plans should follow instructions in the Research Recovery Toolkit.
  • Do you know what to do if someone in your lab contracts COVID-19? Faculty, staff, and students working in labs should be aware of their screening and reporting obligations, as well as what steps to take in the event that a member of their research group experiences symptoms or tests positive for coronavirus. Learn more

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Bring to Market

  • The Innovator of the Year Award recognizes an outstanding BU faculty member who has translated world-class research into an invention or innovation that benefits humankind. We invite faculty, staff, and students to submit nominations by Monday, September 21. Self-nominations are welcome.
  • Technology Development invites faculty, PhDs, and postdocs to apply for Spark, a three-week entrepreneurship program from the New England Innovation Corps, by Monday, October 5. The NSF-created program aims to broaden the impact of academic research through virtual discussions and immersive customer discovery.

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Notes & News

  • A multidisciplinary team of BU researchers has been selected to establish a brain health and dementia technology research center, to be led by Professor Rhoda Au, Anatomy & Neurobiology (MED). The center is funded by a $2.8 million grant from the American Heart Association and Bill Gates.
  • Associate Professor Brooke Blower, History (CAS), was awarded $60k from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) to study the cultural, social, and political dimensions of World War II as seen through the lives of seven passengers aboard the Pan American Airways Yankee Clipper when it crashed in 1943.
  • Associate Professor Stephan Ellenwood, Curriculum & Teaching (Wheelock), was awarded $168.5k from the NEH to conduct a two-week institute for high school English teachers on the ways that friendship is understood and portrayed in literature and film.
  • Professor and Associate Dean of the Faculty for the Social Sciences Nazli Kibria, Sociology (CAS), recently received a $100k Voices of Economic Opportunity Grand Challenge Grant from the Gates Foundation and Raikes Foundation to collect the life histories of people who have suffered economic decline to highlight the dynamic nature of the underlying causes and better inspire empathy.
  • Research Assistant Professor Maria Olivares and Research Associate Professor Eli Tucker-Raymond, both Language & Literacy (Wheelock), were awarded a $500k Research Coordination Network grant through the National Science Foundation to expand equity practices and cultures in STEM-maker education.
  • BU’s SHIELD Drive Science Center developed a predictive model of earth’s heliosphere featured on the July cover of Nature Astronomy.
  • Research Associate Professor Mayank Varia, Computer Science (CAS), was chosen to serve on the inaugural federal advisory committee to enhance the use of sound data in federal policymaking.

 

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