Category: Research
Science & Mathematics Education Center
The Science & Mathematics Education Center strives to improve the quality of formal college and precollege science and mathematics learning, instruction, materials, and curricula, as well as to promote informal and public science education. The Center serves as an umbrella for the precollege and informal science and mathematics education programs already in place within the Boston University community, as well as for future research and development projects in these fields.
Center for Computational Science
The Center for Computational Science opens to coordinate and promote computationally based research, foster computational science education, and support the expansion of computational resources.
Center for Advanced Genomic Technology
The Center for Advanced Genomic Technology, which evolved from the Molecular Engineering Research Laboratory (MERL) founded by Charles DeLisi in 1990 as a new interdisciplinary program in Boston University's College of Engineering, opens its doors.
Center for Space Physics
The Center for Space Physics opens to explore and research space physics, including space plasma physics, magnetospheric physics, ionospheric physics, atmospheric physics, and planetary and cometary atmospheric studies. Students in astronomy, applied physics, and engineering conduct research through the center, which also serves as the coordinating mechanism for grants and has a 20-inch telescope at McDonald Observatory.
Alcohol & Drug Institute for Policy, Training & Research
The Alcohol & Drug Institute for Policy, Training & Research consists of experts on alcohol and drug issues associated with urban and multicultural populations. The institute sponsors professional seminars and conferences, conducts research on policy-relevant issues, and works with social service agencies to respond to the needs of addicted clients.
Institute for the Study of Economic Culture
When it opens in 1985, the Institute for the Study of Economic Culture focuses on the relation of culture to economic development; the agenda eventually expands to include social and political issues as these relate to culture. In 2003 the institute combines with the Institute on Religion & World Affairs and becomes the Institute on Culture, Religion & World Affairs (CURA), which researches, publishes, and educates on one of the most strategic questions in the contemporary world: How does culture (in the sense of beliefs, values, and lifestyles) affect economic and political developments worldwide? Since religion is at the core of culture in most of the world, CURA has paid special attention to the role of religion in world affairs. While CURA’s agenda is of obvious academic interest, it increasingly touches on practical policy concerns and seeks to communicate its findings to government, the business community, and the media.
Center for Remote Sensing
Professor Farouk El-Baz founds and becomes director of the Center for Remote Sensing. The center uses satellite images and other data from airborne and ground sensors to study the Earth and its resources, particularly groundwater. This research includes monitoring environmental changes due to both natural processes and human activities.
NeuroMuscular Research Center
The College of Engineering establishes the NeuroMuscular Research Center (NMRC) to increase knowledge of motor control and improve the quality of health care for neuromuscular-impaired patients.
Data Coordinating Center
The Data Coordinating Center specializes in questionnaire and case report form design; implementing study protocols; data management; data entry; and statistical, database, and Web-based programming. Its staff of statistical programmers, database programmers, and data managers are experts in study design, developing computerized and Web-based data collection and tracking systems, quality control procedures, and statistical analysis methods. Data management systems can be custom-designed for projects that involve remote data entry using a Web browser or projects conducted online.
Institute for Jewish Law
Dedicated to conducting scholarly research, publishing material on Jewish law, and providing continuing education in this specialized field, the Institute for Jewish Law seeks to make publications available in English that focus on the analysis of contemporary issues using traditional Jewish sources. Neil Hecht, a tenured member of the law faculty, is the founding director of the institute, which has published over thirty volumes and conducts annual joint conferences with Harvard Law School on a variety of Jewish law topics.
