To do true proof of research it seems like we would need to verify work units multiple times independently to demonstrate that the result is true in a statistical sense. Which would require very strong integration between gridcoin and BOINC projects themselves. Which would lead to more centralization around maybe a few chosen projects since it would be difficult to integrate them all with gridcoin.
Maybe there is some way to do proof of research in a limited amount, perhaps if we set up our own BOINC project and somehow incorporated these results into the blockchain. Although I don't think other projects should have to do this since they were never designed to function as a basis for a blockchain.