Dear colleagues,

I hope you had a great weekend.

Thank you to all of our faculty, staff, and students for your continued resiliency and positivity during these challenging times. This morning I share some updates related to research at SPH:

  • Maintaining salary coverage on external awards: The majority of our research activities are continuing remotely. In some cases, the coronavirus-related restrictions have resulted in non-productive work periods on externally funded projects. The University has made it clear that project personnel should continue on grants even during non-productive work periods, unless the sponsor has indicated that such coverage is not allowed. For PIs who feel that there is a need to reduce personnel salaries on external awards, please contact me to discuss (mmcclean@bu.edu).
  • COVID-19 Funding Opportunities: The CTSI has launched a COVID-19- specific Request for Applications (RFP) to provide funds for projects specifically focused on clinical and translational research related to COVID-19. The deadline is April 19th for a start date of May 1. Additionally, the BU Research Office has started tracking COVID-related research activity across the University. They are summarizing via this Google spreadsheet (Kerberos log-in required) as a resource to our research community with the hope that it may facilitate interdisciplinary collaboration. We will continue to keep the community updated on new funding opportunities – the latest are available here. For submissions that require a quick turn-around, Vivian Holmes can provide guidance during the submission process.
  • Pilot awards. the idea hub offers a vibrant pilot award program that includes multiple funding opportunities to support excellence and innovation in education, research, and practice. Congratulations to the Spring 2020 recipients of Early Career Catalyst Awards:
    • Paul Shafer, Developing a national Medicaid policy data set for evaluating effects of eligibility and programmatic changes
    • Craig Ross, TobacTRAK: A Mobile-Health Platform for Monitoring Tobacco Product Use in Real-Time for Research and Treatment

Thank you to the Research Committee for their review of the research pilot applications. We welcome applications for the next pilot award cycle with a submission deadline of September 1, 2020. Fast-track funding proposals are accepted on a rolling basis.

  • Grant writing workshop. The SPH grant writing workshop provides guidance and support to faculty at any level of their career. Structured as a combination of lectures, feedback, and a mock study section, the workshop takes faculty from a grant idea to a written grant proposal over a series of 10 2-hour sessions between May and July (details available here). Faculty interested in enrolling in the 2020 cohort are invited to submit an application by April 10, 2020. Additional questions about the workshop can be directed to Bernie Harlow (harlow@bu.edu).

Thank you again for all of your efforts during this challenging period. I realize that there may well be challenges that are best addressed case-by-case as we continue with our scholarship during this time.  Of course, feel free to reach out me directly with any questions or concerns (mmcclean@bu.edu).

Best,

Mike McClean
Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Advancement
mmcclean@bu.edu

View all announcements