Bose grants reward risk
Solar cells made from coal, smart nanoparticles that work with bacteria to fight cancer, and an effort to enhance human cognition by stimulating brain waves are just a few examples of the high-risk, high-impact projects funded by the first round of Prof. Amar G. Bose Research Grants. As a scientist, Bose — a longtime member of the MIT faculty, and the founder of Bose Corporation — was driven to explore new and controversial research areas, and strongly believed in pursuing projects that many others felt were impossible. The grant program named for him embraces that philosophy, investing in the development of visionary researchers and giving them the opportunity to explore areas outside their field of expertise. “Any truly groundbreaking research will likely be found to be risky, inappropriate, or unrealistic by many of the established practitioners in the field,” says Vanu Bose ’88, SM ’94, PhD ’99, son of Amar Bose, who...