Focused Research Programs

Focused Research Programs are expected to be a year in length, defined by a single overarching research theme unifying a handful of inter-related, complementary sub-themes (or thrusts). We envision a collection of personnel in turn around this structure, consisting of the following:

Leaders: 1-2 faculty responsible for overall facilitation, budget, and deliverables. Leaders are expected to serve as (co)PIs for at least one major response to future external funding solicitations pertaining to the FRP research.

Champions: 1-2 faculty responsible for championing each particular research thrust, guiding the core teams around those thrusts to reach agreed upon milestones for each FRP workshop, and coordinating sprints between workshops.

Core: An additional handful of faculty per thrust whose research efforts collectively define the work of that thrust.

Community: That segment of the broader BU community and beyond, with a potential interest in the FRP, who may contribute through involvement with open FRP events and activities.
 
FRPs are supported by a package of “infrastructure + process,” aimed at helping groups coalesce in sustainable ways. A typical award will include Hariri Institute administrative support (i.e., communications, events, grant development) for the following:

Kick-off and Convergence workshops at the start and end of the FRP year.

Three (working!) workshops throughout the year, with sprints in between.

A featured FRP signature event (e.g., conference, roundtable, etc.)

Additional possible events/meetings (e.g., industry event, seminar series, storytelling)

All Boston University Faculty are eligible to submit and participate in Focused Research Programs.

All Faculty members listed in the proposed Focused Research Program’s structure must have capacity to fully participate in the year-long program (attending and participating in planning meetings, workshops, conferences, activities, etc.)

We strongly encourage faculty interested in leading and submitting a Focused Research Program to discuss their proposed program idea and community structure early with Hariri Institute’s Director, Yannis Paschalidis, yannisp@bu.edu.

The Institute expects to fund Focused Research Programs at the level of $100,000 – $150,000, per program, for one year of support. In making Focused Research Program (FRP) awards, the Institute supports research programs by providing FRP Workshop(s), event and meeting support, and grant submission support.

The Hariri Institute for Computing FRP funds can be used to support Boston University graduate students, postdoctoral, and undergraduate students; event costs pertaining to food, supplies, etc; a limited amount of speaker and/or visitor travel/accommodations; and research supplies and equipment.

Cost sharing at the level of departments or colleges/schools, as well as through leveraging of faculty grant funds consistent with the FRP theme, is strongly encouraged to help build creative partnerships across entities and across education/research units.

Interactions with our Software Applications and Innovation Lab (SAIL) are also strongly encouraged, but must be budgeted after meeting with SAIL to discuss the scope of work and cost.

All proposals submitted by the deadline will be reviewed by the program’s evaluation committee. The evaluation committee reports to the Institute’s Director, who in turn will present funding recommendations to the Hariri Institute’s Steering Committee for approval. Programs will be evaluated using the following criteria:

a.) To what extent does the proposed program promise to focus, evolve, and advance Boston University’s research in in computing, computational, and data-driven science and engineering, at basic and/or translational levels?

b.) To what extent does the program create or strengthen a community converging in an important area(s) with the prospect for broad, positive social impact?

c.) To what extent does the program pursue new ideas (methodological or new applications of more established methodologies) that have not been pursued under earlier funding, internal or external?

d.) How likely is the program to succeed in facilitating its proposed research convergence and enable the proposing team to attract external funding (smaller, but also high-profile center-level awards)?

Proposing a Focused Research Program is a two-stage process. The Hariri Institute will provide feedback after the pre-proposal stage. Faculty interested in leading and submitting a Focused Research Program proposal are strongly encouraged to contact the Hariri Institute’s Director, Yannis Paschalidis, yannisp@bu.edu, prior to beginning the process.

Pre-proposals are due 2/14/25. If you have questions about the form, email Katherine D’Angelo at ktd@bu.edu.