Research Revealed: Advancing Diversity and Equity in Research
February 2022 | Information & Support for the BU Research Community
Collaborate
FEDERAL FUNDING
Promoting Diversity in Biomedical Research
Top takeaways from a recent National Institutes of Health (NIH) UNITE Initiative event, which highlighted opportunities for diversifying the biomedical research workforce and building new career pathways in the field.
CALL FOR PROPOSALS
Research on Sustainability Misinformation
BU’s Institute for Sustainable Energy and the Hariri Institute for Computing are offering $125k to fund a year-long, multi-disciplinary research program to study misinformation campaigns that leverage emerging media to influence attitudes on climate change or sustainability. Apply by 4/7.
POLICY & DISCOURSE
Apply to be a Public Impact Scholar
BU’s Initiative on Cities is accepting applications for its Public Impact Scholars program, which equips faculty with skills to influence policy and discourse for positive societal impact. The next cohort takes place in June. Apply by 3/4.
Plus:
- Ideas for incorporating team building into lab meetings (Science)
- Upcoming talks on artificial intelligence in the Boston area (Vitali Petsiuk, CAS)
- Pulse check on the Biden administration and science (University of Houston)
Find Funding
- Racial Equity in Research: Lewis-Burke Associates, a federal consulting firm in Washington, DC, has developed a primer on federal funding resources for investigators who are conducting racial equity research and supporting diverse research teams. (Kerberos log-in is required.)
- NSF CAREER Program: As part of the National Science Foundation’s COVID-19 recovery efforts, the agency expects to increase funding this year for its Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER). Early career investigators should consider joining an upcoming virtual workshop for advice on how to make proposals more competitive.
- Graduate Student Fellowships in Sustainability: The Institute for Sustainable Energy seeks proposals for its Graduate Summer Fellows Program by Friday, 3/18. Eligible students will be interested in planetary health and human well-being, the governance and politics of sustainability transitions, and energy systems of the future. Interested students are encouraged to join an information session on 3/1.
- Fellowship to Improve Healthcare: BU’s Evans Center for Implementation and Improvement Sciences is seeking applications from postdocs and early career faculty for its two-year Implementation Science Fellowship, which provides early career researchers an opportunity to learn theory and research skills and scientifically evaluate efforts to improve healthcare. Apply by 3/1.
Manage an Award
- Sponsor Updates and Reminders: Remember to check the Research Admin Blog for important sponsor reminders. Recent updates touch on new proposal requirements for the Department of Energy, new forms and instructions for the NIH, and more. Subscribe for email updates.
- Personnel Activity Reports: Personnel activity reports for the period July through December 2021 have been distributed to department administrators and coordinators. Please return to effort@bu.edu by Friday, 4/8.
- Grant Management How-to: A new instructional library provides best practices on a variety of grant management topics, from after-the-fact reporting to subawards. You can view the full list of topics and browse best practices on the Research Support website.
Conducting Research
- Research Data Training: Learn to measure your research impact and connect with new collaborators at a March workshop on SciVal, a bibliometrics tracking tool that allows researchers to search and analyze publication data, media hits, and patent information.
- Data Management Policy: The NIH released frequently asked questions to help clarify its Data Management and Sharing Policy, announced in 2020, which requires investigators to submit a data management plan with their application and comply with the plan throughout the research process. The policy goes into effect in January 2023.
- Clinical Trial Registration and Reporting: Enhanced checks on non-compliance with clinical trial registration and reporting came into effect in eRA’s Human Subjects System on October 1, 2021. These checks could delay your Research Performance Progress Report (RPPR) submission if you are late on either front. All NIH-funded clinical trials are expected to register and submit results information to Clinicaltrials.gov, as per the NIH Policy on Dissemination of NIH-Funded Clinical Trial Information. These new checks will now result in an error for grant recipients upon submission of an RPPR when clinical trial registration (required 21 days after enrollment of first participant) and/or results reporting (required 12 months after trial completion date) is overdue.
Promote Your Work
- Research Photo Contest: The Office of Research is looking for images that provide a glimpse into the field sites, libraries, and laboratories where BU research happens. The photo contest is open to all current faculty, staff, and students and has a submission deadline of 3/18.
- Strategic Communications Series: BU’s Strategic Communications Series returns this spring with interactive trainings for the BU research community on communicating research effectively:
- Media Training for Academics (3/31): Brad Phillips of Throughline will lead a virtual media training and messaging workshop. Phillips will also offer office hours for faculty on 4/1.
- Engaging with Science Media (4/27): Meredith Drosback and Tori Fosheim from SciLine will present a remote workshop on the US media landscape, including the elements of a newsworthy story, interview techniques, and more. This session will be followed by a live Q&A with reporters discussing how the news works on 5/4.
Notes & News
- New Sustainability Leadership: Professor Benjamin Sovacool, Earth & Environment (CAS), was appointed as the new director of BU’s Institute for Sustainable Energy (ISE). Dr. Sovacool, a leading scholar on global energy and climate policy, will lead the ISE’s transition to a broader research focus beyond energy and environment to sustainability as a whole–a bold initiative that will bring together over 100 world-class faculty from nearly all the University’s schools and colleges.
- The Future of Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research: On Wednesday, June 8, BU’s Evans Center for Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research, in collaboration with the BU Clinical & Translational Science Institute and the Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research Office, is hosting a retreat open to the BU research community for discussion and planning on new interdisciplinary research directions, platforms, and funding opportunities. RSVP is required.
- Assistant Professor Mark Bun, Computer Science (CAS), was awarded a 2022 Sloan Research Fellowship, one of the most prestigious awards for early-career scientists.
- Professor Mark Grinstaff, Biomedical Engineering (ENG) and Chemistry (CAS), has been named a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
- Assistant Professor Maria Kamenetska, Chemistry and Physics (CAS), has received the NSF CAREER Award, the National Science Foundation’s most prestigious award in support of early-career faculty.
- Assistant Professor Elaine Nsoesie, Global Health (SPH) recently became co-lead of the National Institute of Health’s Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning Consortium to Advance Health Equity and Researcher Diversity (AIM-AHEAD) Program, which focuses on using AI to advance health equity.
- Professor Benjamin Sovacool, Earth & Environment (CAS), was awarded the 2022 Energy and Environment Specialty Group Professional Geographer Award from the American Association of Geographers for his paper, “Dispossessed by Decarbonisation: Reducing Vulnerability, Injustice, and Inequality in the Lived Experience of Low-carbon Pathways,” published in World Development.
- Professor Selim Ünlü, Electrical & Computer Engineering (ENG), was named Boston University’s 2021 Innovator of the Year.