sub australianNationalUniversity {
    use AustralianNationalUniversity;
    AustralianNationalUniversity::search( $maxHits, %searchTerms );
    my @results = AustralianNationalUniversity::getResults();
    lock(@searchResults);
    push ( @searchResults, @results );
}

##</code><code>##

# at the beginning of your code:
use GenericSearch;

# and then just ONE sub for all threads
sub get_search {
    my $group = shift;
    GenericSearch::search($group, $maxHits, %searchTerms );
    my @results = GenericSearch::getResults();
    lock(@searchResults);
    push ( @searchResults, @results );
}

##</code><code>##

my @search = grep /^_/, param();

# now remove the underscores
$_ = substr($_,1) for @search;

# now create the threads;
my @thread = map { threads->new(sub {get_search($_)})}, @search;

# and finally, join them when done
$_->join for @thread;