On Friday, Boston University announced the launch of its new Research Support website, intended to help guide students, faculty and staff at BU in their research. The website compiles all the information necessary to apply for and maintain grants, navigate complex policies and conduct safe research in compliance with regulations, in order to give researchers more time to focus on their work.
Gloria Waters, vice president and associate provost of research, said in the past, researchers would have to go through multiple websites and a lot of hassle to find what they were looking for.
“If you need [international review board] approval to work with human subjects before your grant application can go through, you shouldn’t have to go to two or three sites to find information on how to get that done,” Waters wrote in an email to The Daily Free Press. “One of our goals is reducing administrative burden where possible, and this site streamlines content, makes connections between information, helps you discover resources you may not know about otherwise and puts relevant information in your hands right when you need it.”
According to the website, its aim is to create a one-stop support network for the entire BU research community, no matter what part of the process they are on, whether they are applying for, managing or closing out an award or looking to commercialize their invention.
Waters said the site is part of a comprehensive re-imagining of the online presence of research at BU. The Research News and Events website, which launched in the fall of 2014 to showcase the research being done at BU, was another major step in the project.
“[BU’s] Marketing and Communications Interactive Design group took the general vision we had … and turned it into a thoughtfully designed site built for ease of use,” Waters wrote. “Part of the challenge was finding a way to make a site that works equally well for the staff member who uses this information every day, the veteran researcher who has been at BU for years and knows the processes and a new faculty member on day one, and having conversations and testing with all of those people helped guide the team throughout the project.”
Waters said the site’s team is currently working on designing more training and how-to resources pertaining to processes like sample applications, communicating work with audiences and finding funding. They are also trying to create a greater awareness for this website to try and help more people benefit from it.
Roscoe Giles, a computer engineering professor and researcher, said he was happy to see BU create the new website.
“I think it is great that BU is trying to integrate everything under this website,” Giles said.
However, he expressed concern about how current the site’s offerings are.
“I hope they are able to keep it up to date and new features are consistently added,” Giles said. “It is definitely a great effort by the university to better serve its researchers.”
Several students said they were glad the website was created, and think it will be a big asset to BU.
Joseph DellaMorte, a junior in the College of Engineering, said he thinks the new website will be helpful to everyone who uses it.
“The new website is a great idea,” DellaMorte said. “It really makes things a lot easier by getting everything in one place. It shows the university’s commitment to researchers.”
Elizaveta Ptitsyna, a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences, said she is excited to try using the site.
“It could really improve the way we go through the process of research and everything surrounding it,” Ptitsyna said. “I’m glad that the university is taking such steps to make things easier for prospective researchers.”
Angelica Concepcion, a freshman in the Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, said the website will be a success, as long as people know how to use it.
“I feel that a resource as important as this needs more awareness so that more people can use it,” Concepcion said. “This website would definitely encourage more people to take things in their own hands and engage in research.”
