Boston College
Associate Vice President of Research
McGuinn Hall 221
Dear Boston College Faculty Member:
I am writing to let you know about several important developments that support
BC's faculty and student research. Each is a significant step forward; together
they reflect the maturing of BC's research infrastructure.
Boston College Institutional Review Board: The BCIRB has expanded
to provide a unified, university-wide IRB, replacing unit-level reviews. In
addition, Rachel Krebs has joined us as the first Director of the Office for
Human Research Participant Protection. She and the chair of the IRB, Dr. Rachel
Pruchno, have revised and provided web access to forms, and have reduced the
time needed for reviews. Please see www.bc.edu/research/rcip/human/ for more
details.
Responsible Conduct of Research: BC is also part of a national
discussion regarding the importance of ethical issues involved in research.
Dr. Karen Muskavitch chairs the BC Committee on the Responsible Conduct of Research.
The committee is cosponsoring three series of events this year:
- A workshop on Human Research Participation, mandated for those who carry
out studies involving humans
Next session -- Tuesday, September 23, 2:00-4:00 pm. McGuinn 5th floor lounge
- A monthly lunchtime discussion of topics in the responsible conduct of research
Next session -- Monday, October 20, noon-1:00 pm in Higgins 345
- A series of professional skills and ethics workshops designed for graduate
students and postdoctoral fellows focusing on Job Search Strategies
Next session -- Monday, September 29, 5:00-9:00 pm
For more information on any of the above offerings please e-mail: rcrprog@bc.edu
.
Intellectual Property Management: We are in the process
of hiring our first full-time intellectual property licensing officer to assist
faculty and staff in the evaluation and protection of intellectual property developed
at BC. With increased external support for our research, we have increased responsibility
to assure appropriate patent and copyright protection. For more information about
our intellectual property activities, please see www.bc.edu/research/rcip/intelprop/
.
Research Compliance: Under the direction of Dr. Stephen Erickson,
our research compliance program has three key functions:
- Offering and supporting compliance education
- Undertaking compliance oversight
- Providing a clearinghouse of research compliance resources
For more information please see www.bc.edu/research/rcip/compliance/ .
Office for Sponsored Programs: With the assistance of the AVP and
EVP, we have added two new staff positions in the Office for Sponsored Programs.
One staff member will assist in post-award accounting and billing activities;
the second will assist in the increasingly complex technological aspects of grant
submissions and post-award activities. For more information please see www.bc.edu/research/osp/
.
I hope you will find these additional resources and activities useful to you and
to your students throughout the coming academic year.
Best regards,
Mick
Michael A. Smyer
smyer@bc.edu
617-552-3268