Research Revealed: How one BU-led collaboration is keeping the magic alive five years in
June 2022 | Information & Support for the BU Research Community
Collaborate
COLLABORATION IN ACTION
14 Institutions on a Common Quest to Mend Broken Hearts
A BU-led team of researchers is engineering small patches of cardiac muscle that could repair the heart, treat heart disease, and speed drug development. Behind the scenes, the massive team has become a role model for how to do trans-disciplinary research going forward.
Plus:
- Tips on identifying good collaborators (Nature)
- A checklist for designing a great conference poster (Crastina)
Find Funding
Lung Cancer Research: As part of a five-year alliance with Boston University, Johnson & Johnson is issuing a request for proposals (Kerberos log-in required) for pilot programs focused on preventing or curing lung cancer at its early stages. BU teams are invited to apply by Wednesday, July 13.
Alzheimer’s Research: The Harrington Discovery Institute and the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation (ADDF) issued a joint request for proposals for the 2022 ADDF-Harrington Scholar Award, with a deadline of Monday, July 18. The award is designed to accelerate the translation of innovative research that could treat, prevent, or slow Alzheimer’s and related dementias.
Early Career Funding: Applications are due Monday, July 25, for the National Science Foundation’s Faculty Early Career Development Program (NSF CAREER). Early career investigators are encouraged to access this webinar recording for guidance and advice on preparing competitive proposals.
Education and Special Education Research: The US Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences seeks proposals by Thursday, September 8 for research expanding knowledge of (1) developmental and school readiness outcomes for infants and toddlers with or at risk for a disability; (2) education outcomes for all learners from early childhood education through postsecondary and adult education; and (3) employment and wage outcomes when relevant (such as for those engaged in career and technical, postsecondary, or adult education).
National Institute of Health (NIH) Grants: The NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts is NIH’s official publication of notices of grant policies, guidelines and funding opportunity announcements. Upcoming announcements will include an opportunity for centers of excellence for maternal health research.
Manage an Award
Internal Proposal Submission Deadlines: Summer grant deadlines are upon us. As a reminder, BU Sponsored Programs requests that investigators notify of their intention to submit a proposal well in advance of the sponsor deadline, that all administrative components be finalized five business days before the deadline, and that the final and complete proposal be submitted to Sponsored Programs three business days before the deadline. Proposals completed on the day of the external deadline are at risk of not being successfully submitted given high volumes and system pressures. Learn more
Postdoctoral Compensation: The NIH has raised their minimum salary and stipend level for postdoctoral scholars to $54,840, a two percent increase. As of Thursday, September 1, BU’s minimum postdoc salary and stipend level will be $54,840. New proposals submitted through Sponsored Programs will require postdoc salaries to be budgeted at $54,840, effective immediately. We encourage faculty and units that wish to raise their postdocs’ salaries or stipends in advance of September 1 to do so.
Conducting Research
Lab Animal Per Diem Rate Changes: New lab animal per diem rates can be found on the Research Support site. The rates reflect the costs for fiscal year 2023, beginning Friday, July 1, as well as proposed costs for the next four years. Please use these projected costs when preparing proposal budgets.
Bring to Market
From Lab to Life: Ignition Awards provide BU faculty with one-year grants of up to $75,000 to help launch promising new ideas into the marketplace–better positioning investigators at all stages of project development to transform their research from concept to reality. Read about this year’s nine winners and their life-changing innovations. Ignition Awards will begin soliciting pre-proposals from faculty for the coming year in October 2022.
The Innovator’s Journey: This month’s blog post from Rana K. Gupta, Director of Faculty Entrepreneurship, tackles one of the most common questions academic inventors face in meetings with company reps interested in an idea or technology: “How does it work?” His advice? Don’t take this question at face value by sharing too much, too soon. Instead, dig deeper to find out what they’re really asking.
Notes & News
Professor Ioannis Paschalidis has been appointed the incoming director of the BU Rafik B. Hariri Institute for Computing and Computational Science & Engineering, a role he will begin on Friday, July 1.
BU’s Institute for Sustainable Energy, in partnership with the Hariri Institute for Computing and Computational Science & Engineering, has awarded a Focused Research Program (FRP) for the coming year to a team studying data and misinformation in an era of sustainability and climate change crises. Other FRPs awarded by the Hariri Institute for 2022-23 will be focused on teaching machines human-like intelligence and quantum convergence.
Professor Deborah Carr, Sociology (CAS) and director of the Center for Innovation in Social Science, received the 2022 Matilda White Riley Distinguished Scholar Award from the American Sociological Association.
Assistant Professor Steve Ramirez, Psychological & Brain Sciences (CAS), was selected by the Pew Charitable Trusts as a Pew Scholar in Biomedical Sciences.
Associate Professor Yoon Sun Sang, World Languages & Literatures (CAS), was awarded a National Endowment for the Humanities grant for research leading to a book on literature by Koreans who migrated from Japan to the US in the early 20th century.
Professor Alexander Sergienko and Assistant Professor Abdoulaye Ndao, Electrical & Computer Engineering (ENG), in collaboration with researchers at SUNY Buffalo, have been awarded a $1M Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative grant by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research to develop novel sensors for microelectronics.
Professor Xin Zhang, Mechanical Engineering (ENG), was awarded a 2022 Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship for her pioneering work in the field of metamaterials–synthetic materials with functional properties not found in nature.
Assistant Professor Jennifer Zuk, Speech, Language & Hearing Sciences (Sargent), has been selected for a 2021 Hartwell Foundation Individual Biomedical Research Award in recognition of “early-stage, innovative, cutting-edge biomedical research” with potential to advance the health of children.
This spring, BU’s Animal Science Center observed Biomedical Research Awareness Day to acknowledge the advances in medicine that animal-based research continues to enable. Staff gathered for presentations by two accomplished scientists, Assistant Professor Maria Isabel Dominguez and Professor Jay Mizgerd, Medicine (MED), about how their research with frogs and mice improves our understanding and, ultimately, the treatment of debilitating diseases.