October 14: Free Workshop Focuses on Social Science and University-Industry Collaboration
Academic social and behavioral science, when it looks outside of the ivory tower, often focuses on policy implications and thus government and perhaps non-profits for applications of research. But private industry, while it has always drawn from social science insights, increasingly formalizes that connection in a time of ‘big data.’
In that vein, UIDP (originally University-Industry Demonstration Partnership), a non-profit that grew out of National Academies of Science Engineering, and Medicine project in 2006, is sponsoring a virtual workshop on October 14 of their upcoming social science-focused in-person workshop at the University of Maryland, College Park next year. The University of Maryland is also the host of the virtual event.
UIDP became a separate entity in 2015, but its goals remain the same: connecting the academic and corporate sectors, thereby advancing the “idea-to-innovation process,” and ultimately serving as a resource for society. The virtual workshop and in-person event are tailored to provide these services specifically for the social and behavioral sciences, say organizers.
“University-industry partnerships in the social sciences enable more access to better data that can be helpful to more people,” said the National Science Foundation’s Kellina Craig-Henderson, the deputy assistant director for the Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences Directorate. “Whether your business is human resources or microprocessors, the outcome of this is greater impact with more talent at scale.” The NSF, along with MITRE, and the Consortium of Social Science Associations, are supporting two events (as is SAGE Publishing, the parent of Social Science Space).
The October event offers three consecutive free sessions starting at 11 a.m. ET and ending at 2 p.m.:
- Using Mission-Oriented Innovation to Address Societal Challenges
- Mapping Privacy Influencers: Partnerships to Understand Emerging Privacy Policy
- Developing a Mental Wellbeing Index for Addressing Behavioral Health Inequities
“The behavioral and social sciences have a tremendous impact on the ability of organizations to understand the vast inputs from big data and to address global challenges,” said Anthony Boccanfuso, president and CEO of UIDP. “Research in human behavior, economics, and social organizations is essential to the progress of science and to advance our nation’s health and prosperity.
“These workshops will convene academic, corporate, government, and nonprofit representatives to consider how cross-sector partnerships can advance scholarly work in social, behavioral, and economic science.”
