Office of Research and Sponsored Programs

BU's research and sponsored programs serves as the principal resource for faculty, staff and students seeking and/or managing external and internal funding for research and other creative activities.

What we do

• assists faculty and staff in identifying funding sources and in locating application forms and guidelines
• reviews funding literature and calls funding opportunities to the attention of the appropriate faculty and staff
• reviews proposal budgets to ensure that they are in the proper form and are in agreement with the proposal guideliens. The OR&SP also evaluates any University commitment that is made in the grant.
• aids faculty in the submission process. All proposal submissions that are not individual awards (fellowships, etc.) should be submitted to the funding agency by the OR&SP. The OR&SP will normally take care of obtaining signatures on proposals, copying, and mailing. For proposals to federal or state agencies with complex forms, the OR&SP will prepare the forms from the project director's rough drafts.
• helps with contract negotiations, contract preparation, legal review and other post award details
• has a post award oversight responsibility to insure that funds received are spent in accordance with the budget and agency guidelines
• reads grant proposals and make suggestions for improvement if asked by the preparer
• provides certain types of descriptive material (boilerplate) and helps with obtaining statistical documentation in certain areas
• helps faculty in complying with the requirements of the various oversight committees that are mandated by federal and state laws and university policy
• provides administrative support for the human subject review process and the animal use review process
• does almost anything else that will aid the grant writing and submission process given the restraints of time and personnel
• does not make judgments about the worth of proposals. Decision on whether a proposal is in the best interest of the university and whether it should be submitted is left to the preparer and supervisors. Normally approval of the chair, dean, and assistant vice president and dean of graduate studies and research is required