Social and Behavioral Science at Scale

Societies around the globe face pressing challenges at scale: pandemics, hunger, climate change, growing economic inequality, threats to democratic institutions. In order to discover cost-effective solutions to these and other challenges, we need to conduct social and behavioral science at a scale proportionate to the threats we confront.

This convening brings together leaders of universities, philanthropic foundations, and public funders of science to share ideas about practices that can more fully mobilize the social and behavioral science research community to develop and test bold solutions to societies’ most urgent challenges.

Conference Speakers

Anna Harvey
President, Social Science Research Council
John List
Kenneth C. Griffin Distinguished Service Professor of Economics, University of Chicago
Neil Lewis, Jr.
Assistant Professor of Communication, Cornell University; Assistant Director, Psychological Science Accelerator
Christine Hunter
Acting Associate Director for Behavioral and Social Sciences Research and Acting Director, Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research, National Institutes of Health
Alan Tomkins
Deputy Director, Division of Social and Economic Sciences, National Science Foundation
Daniel Goroff
Vice President, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation; Former Division Director, National Science Foundation
Jeremy Weinstein
Professor of Political Science, Fisher Family Director of Stanford Global Studies, Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies and the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research, Stanford University
Cecilia Conrad
CEO, Lever for Change; Managing Director, MacArthur Foundation
Adam Russell
Acting Deputy Director, ARPA-H, National Institutes of Health
Bruce Gellin
Senior Vice President and Chief of Global Public Health Strategy, The Rockefeller Foundation
Larry Kramer
President, William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
Alonzo Plough
Vice President for Research and Evaluation and Chief Science Officer, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Robert Groves
Chair, Committee on National Statistics, National Academy of Sciences; Gerard J. Campbell SJ Professor of Math and Statistics and Executive Vice President and Provost, Georgetown University
Julia Lane
Professor, Wagner School of Public Policy; Provostial Fellow for Innovation Analytics, New York University; Co-Founder, Coleridge Initiative
Michael Mueller-Smith
Assistant Professor of Economics, Director, Criminal Justice Administrative Records System, University of Michigan
Katy Milkman
James G. Dinan Professor of Operations, Information and Decisions, Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, co-founder/co-director, Behavior Change for Good Initiative
Stuart Buck
Senior Advisor, Social Science Research Council; Executive Director, The Good Science Project
Joshua A. Tucker
Professor of Politics; Co-Director, NYU Center for Social Media and Politics; Director, Jordan Center for the Advanced Study of Russia, New York University
Adam F. Falk
President, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
Frances Haugen
Facebook Whistleblower and Co-Founder, Beyond the Screen

Conference Program

8:30 - 8:45 AM
Welcome and Opening Remarks
Anna Harvey
8:45 - 10:30 AM
The Value of Scaled Social/Behavioral Science
Scaled social and behavioral science holds the promise of increased scientific credibility, greater representation of diverse perspectives, and amplified policy relevance.
John List
Katy Milkman
Neil Lewis, Jr.
Joshua A. Tucker
10:45 AM - 12:15 PM
Federal Funding for Scaled Social/Behavioral Science
How can federal funders of science offer increased opportunities to support social and behavioral science at scale?
Alan Tomkins
Christine Hunter
Adam Russell
Daniel Goroff
1:15 - 2:45 PM
Philanthropic Funding for Scaled Social/Behavioral Science
How can scaled social and behavioral science support the goals of philanthropic organizations?
Alonzo Plough
Cecilia Conrad
Bruce Gellin
Larry Kramer
Adam F. Falk
3:00 - 4:30 PM
Building Infrastructure for Scaled Social/Behavioral Science
What infrastructure do we need to build to support scaled social and behavioral science?
Michael Mueller-Smith
Julia Lane
Robert Groves
Jeremy Weinstein
Frances Haugen

Contact the College and University Fund for the Social Sciences

For information about the 2022 Conference, to learn more about how to become a member institution, or if you have other general inquiries about the College and University Fund for the Social Sciences, please email:

Lisa Marshall, Director of Strategic Partnerships
marshall@ssrc.org.

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