$3.4 NSF-funded Study Rooted in SSEN Seed Grant

A research team including Charlie Schweik and Brenda Bushouse of the University of Massachusetts Amherst has been awarded $3.4 million in grants from the National Science Foundation’s Growing Convergence Research program for their project, “Jumpstarting Successful Open-Source Software Projects with Evidence-based Rules and Structures.”

High Performance Computing | Invitation to try the "Unity Cluster"

For the past few years, a number of departments at UMass Amherst have been exploring different options for providing access to high-performance computing capabilities for scholars working with large, hard-to-wrangle datasets. Last year, the folks at Research Computing invited a handful of researchers to pilot-test a remote fast computing cluster solution (the “Unity Cluster”). The Unity Cluster has moved past the pilot stage, and is now in "beta" and open to a wider group of scholars.

NVivo Local Users Community

QSR, the makers of NVivo qualitative data analysis software are scheduling virtual NVivo Research Network meetings to connect and discuss research methods with fellow researchers.

To register for the virtual meeting with researchers in New England, please see details below.

Next Meeting Topic: Using NVivo for Literature Reviews

ISSR Newsmakers | Joya Misra in New York Times on COVID's Gendered Impacts on Faculty

This week, ISSR Director Joya Misra was one of the expert sources cited in the New York Times feature article on the COVID-19 pandemic's gendered impacts on faculty, and in particular the need for more thoughtful recognition in many institutions of the added burden of care that often falls to female faculty. Read the full story at The New York Times.

COSSA Resources | COVID-19 & Social Science at Federal Funding Agencies

COSSA Headlines: A monthly look at what's new and noteworthy in social science policy

COSSA provides a wealth of information to help social scientists follow the changing landscape of rules and resources at the federal agencies that fund social science research, as the government responds to the COVID-19 pandemic.

See the highlights of the current issue below, and subscribe to the COSSA Washington Update to stay abreast this of fast-changing context.

Call for Intervention | Antipode Online seeking contriubtions on current conjuncture

Protestors wearing face masks on steps of Erie County Holding Center. Large banner reads: No Justice No Peace. Abolish the Police. #BLM

A call for interventions from the Antipode Editorial Collective:

https://antipodeonline.org/2020/06/23/conjunctural-insurrections/

Funding Webinar | NSF-approved Formats for Biographical Sketch and Current & Pending Support Documents

NSF recently recorded a webinar about the requirement to use an NSF-approved format for both the biographical sketch and current & pending support documents as part of proposals submitted to NSF. The policy, outlined in the NSF Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide (PAPPG) (NSF 20-1), goes into effect for proposals submitted or due, on or after October 5, 2020. The two NSF-approved formats are SciENcv: Science Experts Network Curriculum Vitae, and an NSF Fillable PDF.

Funding | NIH Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research

The Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (BSSR) at the National Institutes of Health has announced several new Notices of Special Interest (NOSIs) which wil be of interest to social scientists at UMass. Please see the announcment below. For more infomration on how NIH is adjusting its funding mechanisms, check out the Office of Extramural Research blog, or view all BSSR-relevant NOSI s.

Seed Funding Call for Proposals | Labor Research and Action Network New Scholars Research Grants

The Labor Research and Action Network (LRAN) brings together workers’ rights advocates, academics, and students with the shared goal of building workplace and economic power for workers in the United States. One of the organization’s key objectives is to help develop the next generation of labor scholars while also linking these scholars to labor activists.