Three Boston University newbie professors just came into the money – big time.

Using $450,000 from the Peter Paul Award, the three new faculty members will begin research ventures in law, English and engineering.

Kristin Collins, a School of Law associate professor of law, Carrie Preston, a College of Arts and Sciences assistant English professor and Hatice Altug, a College of Engineering assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, will each receive $50,000 a year for three years.

The award, created by Peter Paul, a 1971 Graduate School of Management alumnus and president of mortgage banking company Paul Financial, LLC, is given to professors who have been at BU for no more than two years but have never had prior professorships.

The professors were nominated by their respective BU schools to qualify for the award. A committee then compared all other nominees before the three winners were chosen.

As opposed to professors who have worked at universities for long periods of time and have the resources to fund projects, new professors may not have such resources, Paul said.

“It’s a way of providing recognition at a critical stage,” he said.

While Paul was not involved in choosing the final three recipients, they met with Paul and President Robert Brown for a recognition dinner after they were chosen.

Paul said one of the reasons he has been donating money for the award is because he wants to demonstrate his support for Brown’s leadership.

“I happened to have been fortunate and a little successful, so I’m able to give a little money away,” he said. “But essentially I want to support a new president.”

The recipients said the money they received will go far in funding their research.

Preston, who is in her second year at BU, said her project will look at international modernism through the lens of dance and the conceptual between different styles of performance.

By focusing on a form of ancient Japanese dance and trying to see the extent to which it influenced modernism, she said she will explore how different forms of the dance were exchanged around the world.

“In order to do my research, I need to travel a lot,” Preston said. “I need to do the archives, interview with directors, dancers and teachers, and all of that is very expensive.

“Often, awards like this would go to lab research in science and technology and, of course, that’s valuable and expensive,” she said. “Giving an award to a professor in the humanities is a sign that that work is also valued.”

Altug said her project involves nanophotonics, in which tiny crystals manipulate light. She said she wants to use this technology to diagnose diseases, such as cancer.

“I am basically working for medicine, and I am basically building a lab to conduct my research,” she said.

Her award money will buy equipment and items for the system, such as lasers and cancer-detecting sensors.

Collins, who is on leave for the semester, could not be reached.