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 […]
COSSA Looks at the President’s Science Budget in Depth
The Consortium of Social Science Associations has taken a good look at the budget proposed by President Trump, and finds a particular concern: the disproportionate treatment of the NSF’s Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences Directorate in the request, which would see a cut of 9.1 percent from FY 2017.
Washington and Social Science: Census and the Citizenship Question
The Trump administration has requested that the upcoming decennial census include a “citizenship” question that asks respondents to identify whether or not they are U.S. citizens. Organizations like the Census Project have argued that asking questions about citizenship and immigration could — by deterring many immigrants (legal or illegal) from responding — hurt the response rate (and thus, accuracy) of the 2020 Census and this America’s ability to know our true population numbers.
Senate Keeps Eye on Progress of Competitiveness Act
The focus was more on ‘competition’ than on ‘innovation’ Tuesday as the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation convened a hearing looking at the American Innovation and Competitiveness Act a year after its passage.
Social Science Space 2017 Round Up
Last year Social Science Space presented more than 200 articles on the impact, infrastructure and industry surrounding social and behavioral science and research. Looking back over those articles, we’ve chosen a few of special merit. Social Science Space plans to continue to provide the latest that the new year has to offer. Stay up to date with us to see what is in store.
Washington and Social Science: Bullets Dodged in 2017
The House and Senate cleared the final version of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which was signed into law on December 22. Congress also approved a short-term continuing resolution to keep the government funded through January 19, and cleared a disaster assistance package for victims of hurricanes and wildfires
UNC, Michigan Once Again Tops in Federal R&D on Social Science
The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor continue to lead the United States in total federal social science research dollars, according to a just-released annual survey from the Consortium of Social Science Associations
Science vs. 2017: Five Essential Reads
2017 may well be remembered as the year of alternative facts and fake news. Truth took a hit, and experts seemed to lose the public’s trust and scientists felt under siege as the Trump administration took office. Five stories, from The Conversation, showcase where scholars and scientists stand in this new climate and various ways to consider the value research holds for society.
Tinkering With Symptoms: Why Britain’s Debate About Vice Chancellors’ Salaries Is Misguided
The last few weeks have seen a growing public debate about the pay packages of Britain’s academic CEOs. The vice chancellors at a number of universities, including Birmingham, Bath, Bath Spa and others, have come under heavy pressure to justify salaries that far exceed £100,000, Oddly, all the arguments for and against this start with the assumption that universities are just like any other business.
