Could Distributed Peer Review Better Decide Grant Funding?
The landscape of academic grant funding is notoriously competitive and plagued by lengthy, bureaucratic processes, exacerbated by difficulties in finding willing reviewers. Distributed […]
The Constant Diplomat: Neil Smelser, 1930-2017
Sociologist Neil Smelser, whose research on collective behavior and economic sociology were rivaled by his tenure as a mentor, teacher, and liaison to a restive University of California-Berkeley student body in the 1960s, has died at age 87.
MacArthur Fellows Include Psychologist, Anthropologist, Geographer
Cybercrime, mass surveillance and migration are among the areas studied by the new cohort of MacArthur Foundation fellows announced today. The fellowships, often referred to as “genius grants,” offer a no-strings-attached $625,000 cash grant to exceptionally creative people expected to achieve something important using their outstanding talent going forward.
A Founding Father of Behavioral Economics Wins Nobel Prize
Richard H. Thaler, the University of Chicago economist whose contributions linking psychology to the ‘dismal science’ caught the public’s eye in his co-authored bestselling book Nudge, has received this year’s Nobel Prize in economic sciences.
NSF Spotlights Social Science in Dealing with Disaster
A new video from the National Science Foundation concisely emphasizes the role that social science has in preparing for and reacting to natural disasters.
A Parent of Evaluation: Daniel Stufflebeam, 1936-2017
One of the founding fathers of the field of evaluation, Daniel L. Stufflebeam of Western Michigan University, has died at age 80.
UPDATE: Senate Request for NSF 2 Percent Below Current Year
The U.S. Senate Apropriations Committee calls for a National Science Foundation budget just a hair below what the House has asked for. Both houses’ requests are far above what the president has requested.
Alan Krueger: Where Does Public Policy Fit in a Gig Economy?
American labor law and social programs were developed in an age where workers labored for a company and could plan to be there for years, if not a lifetime. The velocity of the gig economy’s expansion has left policymakers far behind, says economist Alan Kruger, and he’d like to bring them up to speed.
Former Census Director Tapped to Head COPAFS
The recently resigned head of the U.S. Census Bureau will head the umbrella organization that serves as an advocate and liaison to federal statistical organizations.
