Social and Behavioral Science as R&D

December 1, 2023

Decades of investments in science and technology R&D have led to remarkable innovations, including safe and effective vaccines and efficient clean energy solutions. These innovations hold the promise of healthier, more sustainable, and more prosperous societies. But in order to fully realize that promise, we also need social and behavioral science R&D aimed at identifying interventions, programs, and policies that motivate decision makers to act in socially beneficial ways.

As the Council’s Centennial year draws to a close, this convening of the member institutions in the College and University Fund for the Social Sciences will bring together leaders of universities, philanthropic foundations, and public funders of science to celebrate the achievements of 100 years of socially impactful social and behavioral science, and explore new opportunities for social and behavioral science R&D to find cost-effective and scalable solutions to our most pressing societal challenges, including those currently facing universities.

This one-day convening will feature a conversation about opportunities for member institutions in the College and University Fund to collaborate with the National Science Foundation on mapping and accelerating the economic impacts of research-led innovation; new university/researcher partnerships to find interventions that widen the innovation pipeline; and, as a capstone to the Council’s Centennial year, a conversation among the Council’s seven founding disciplines about 100 years of socially impactful work in the social and behavioral sciences, as well as opportunities for further advances.

This convening will be held on Friday, December 1, 2023 at the Harold Pratt House in New York City. The program will run from 11:00am-5:00pm, with a reception immediately following from 5:00-7:00pm.

For more information about the conference or about the College and University Fund for the Social Sciences, please contact Lisa Marshall, Director of Strategic Partnerships, at marshall@ssrc.org.