News

MIT Press announces Chinese publication of Handbook of Science and Technology Studies

The MIT Press will translate the Handbook of Science and Technology Studies into Chinese, for a December 2020 publication date. ISSR Director Laurel Smith-Doerr is one of the editors of the volume, which was published last year in English. For their work on this handbook, the editors won the 2017 STS Infrastructure award from the Society for Social Studies of Science.

House Appropriations Committee Approves FY19 increases in key federal science budgets

On May 17, the House Appropriations Committee approved the fiscal year (FY) 2019 Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies (CJS) Appropriations Bill. The CJS bill serves as the vehicle for annual appropriations for the National Science Foundation (NSF), Census Bureau, National Institute of Justice (NIJ), Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), and many other federal departments and agencies. The Consortium of Social Science Associations (COSSA) has shared its analysis of the key spending provisions in this important bill. 

ISSR Scholar Dania Francis Selected as 2018 Spencer Postdoctoral Fellow

ISSR is pleased to announce that Dania Francis, Assistant Professor of Economics and Afro-American Studies, 2014-15 ISSR Scholar, and 2018-19 Lilly Fellow for Teaching Excellence, has been selected to receive the National Academy of Education / Spencer Postdoctoral Fellowship. This prestigious program encourages outstanding researchers at the postdoctoral level to pursue critical education research projects.

ISSR Team Awarded MSP Grant to Extend Faculty Salary Equity Study

ISSR is proud to announce its selection to receive a grant from the Massachusetts Society of Professors - the faculty union at UMass Amherst - to extend its research on faculty salary and the effects of unionization on gender disparities.  ISSR Director Laurel Smith-Doerr (Sociology), Associate Director Henry Renski (Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning) and Methodologist Jessica Pearlman will lead the research project.

Common Rule Revisions Delayed 6 Months

The Consortium of Social Science Associations - representing the interests of social scientists in Washington - announced that this week, the federal agencies regulated under the Common Rule, the set of regulations governing human subjects research declared their intent to delay implementation of revisions to the Common Rule by an additional six months, setting a new compliance date of January 21, 2019. Details of the Common Rule revision process are available in this Message to COSSA Members, and at the COSSA website.

Social Sciences and the Environment Network | Community and Agenda-Building Workshop

On Friday March 30, the Social Sciences, Humanities and Environment Network at UMass convened faculty, administration, graduate students and staff in a workshop on Environmental Social Science Research: Commonalities and Conundrums. The purpose of this energizing event was to discuss how to leverage diverse backgrounds to develop and implement social science, humanities scholarship that best illuminates how we understand and address the environment.

Announcing the 2018-2019 ISSR Scholars

The Institute for Social Science Research is pleased to announce the selection of our 2018-19 ISSR Scholars, who represent six departments across four Colleges at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst: the College of Education, College of Nursing, School of Public Health and Health Sciences, and College of Social and Behavioral Sciences. ISSR's mission is to promote excellence in social science research, and the Scholars Program is one of our key strategies for strengthening social science infrastructure at UMass.

ISSR's Grants Development Panel Explores Diverse Pathways of Research Funding

In early March, ISSR held its first grants development panel entitled “Grants and Your Research Trajectory,” moderated by Associate Dean of Research and Faculty Development, Jennifer Lundquist and featuring panelists Mari Castañeda, Professor and Chair, Department of Communication and Larry King, a new Professor in the Department of Economics. This panel was designed to explore a range of successful grantmaking trajectories, and raise awareness of new capabilities within ISSR to assist faculty in building successful research proposals strategizing interdisciplinary grants and identifying prospective funders. 

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