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2023 College and University Fund Conference: Social and Behavioral Science as R&D

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 citizens and decision makers to act in socially beneficial ways.

As the Social Science Research 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 celebrate the achievements of 100 years of socially impactful social and behavioral science, and will explore new opportunities for social and behavioral science R&D to find cost-effective and scalable solutions to our most pressing societal challenges, including climate change, persistent inequality, and declining rates of scientific innovation.

APN and Next Generation Writing and Dissemination Workshop, January 29 – February 1, 2024

Addis Ababa From January 29th to February 1st, 2024, the African Peacebuilding Network (APN) and Next Generation Social Sciences in Africa (Next Gen) program of the Social Science Research Council (SSRC), in partnership with the Institute for Peace and Security Studies (IPSS) of Addis Ababa University (AAU), hosted a Writing and Dissemination Workshop for the 2023 cohorts of APN Individual Research Fellows (IRF) and Next Gen Doctoral Dissertation Proposal and Research Fellows at the Ethiopian Skylight Hotel in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. APN and Next Gen Writing and Dissemination workshops provide fellows with the opportunity to meet with mentors and peers …

Bottlenecks for Evidence Adoption

February 29th, 2024 | 3:00 PM EST
Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) have become an increasingly used tool for governments to evaluate whether a particular program or improvement to a program could work. But once a government has that evidence, what determines if they will use it? In this installment of our Research to Solve Problems lecture series, Stefano DellaVigna (UC Berkeley) will discuss ways researchers might address bottlenecks to evidence adoption in their research design.

Political Science as Problem Solving

March 14th, 2024 | 2:00 PM EDT
In this installment of our Research to Solve Problems lecture series, Cyrus Samii (New York University) will discuss how political science researchers can take a problem-solving approach to orienting their work toward social issues. Drawing on a recent book chapter, he’ll describe how empirical political scientists can look for and define problems, and a step-by-step process to help researchers pick the right methodological tools to go from descriptive to causal analysis and intervention testing to solutions.

Virtual Book Launch: Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration of Ex-Combatants in Africa

The book launch started with opening remarks and the introduction of the book editor, Ibrahim Bangura, and the two discussants, Dr. Nelson Oppong and Professor Azeez Olaniyan, by the moderator and director of the SSRC’s APN and NextGen program, Dr. Cyril Obi. This was followed by an overview of the book by the editor. He explained that the book’s main objective was to highlight the success or failure of Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) processes in Africa, and highlight the importance of collaboration and innovative thinking in enhancing the policies and practices on DDR and peacebuilding in the continent. Also …

How Can Scholars Help to Embed Institutions of Public-Sector Change?

April 18th, 2024 | 2:00 PM Eastern
In this installment of our Research to Solve Problems lecture series, Donald Moynihan (Georgetown University) will discuss how social and behavioral scientists interested in the applied study of public services can think about ways for their research to have an impact. Professor Moynihan will draw from his experience studying government processes to discuss the purposeful framing of public problems, and how researchers can design solutions of interest to policymakers.

Africa Peace Research and Education Association (AFPREA)

By Jacinta Maweu The Social Science Research Council’s (SSRC) African Peacebuilding Network (APN) and the Next Generation of Social Sciences (Next Gen) program hosted a panel at the 2024 Africa Peace Research and Education Association (AFPREA) Conference that took place between May 22nd - 26th, 2024, at the MS TCDC Training Center in Arusha, Tanzania. The general conference theme was : Ujamaa, Ubuntu, and New Pan Africanisms: The Future of World Peace. The title of the APN and Next Gen Panel was: Connecting Pan-Africanism to Indigenous Peacebuilding in Africa: Challenges and Prospects. It brought together three APN IRG fellows and …

The Evidence-to-Policy Pipeline

May 23rd, 2024 | 2:00 PM Eastern

In this installment of our Research to Solve Problems lecture series, Eva Vivalt (University of Toronto) will discuss her research conducted with policymakers, practitioners, and researchers at World Bank and Inter-American Development Bank workshops. The results illustrate how each of these three groups respond to and weigh evidence when it is presented to them, and which types of evidence policymakers tend to weigh more heavily.

Virtual Book Launch: America and The Production of Islamic Truth in Uganda

The virtual book launch for America and The Production of Islamic Truth in Uganda, began with opening remarks and the introduction of the book’s author, Dr. Yahya Sseremba, by the moderator, Dr. Cyril Obi, Director of the SSRC’s APN and Next Gen Program. There were exactly four speakers: Dr. Yahya Sseremba, the author and Research Fellow at Makerere Institute for Social Research (MISR) and a distinguished alumnus of the Next Gen program; Prof. Suren Pillay, Head of African Studies and Linguistics and Director of the Center for African Studies at the University of Cape Town; Dr. Margaret Monyani, a Senior …

2024 APN and Next Gen Research Methods Workshop Series

Lagos, Nigeria From July 22 to July 26, the African Peacebuilding Network (APN) and Next Generation Social Sciences in Africa (Next Gen) program of the Social Science Research Council (SSRC), in partnership with the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), hosted the Research Methods Workshop at the Lagos Continental Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos, Nigeria. On Monday, the workshop began with opening remarks from Dr. Cyril Obi, the Program Director of APN and Next Gen. He thanked everyone in attendance for coming to the workshop, expressing excitement for the days ahead. His remarks were followed by that of Prof. Eghosa Osaghae, …

Platforms and Elections: the Global State of Play

Nine months into the 2024 global elections year, how well are governments and social media companies safeguarding democracy? In the past few years, governments around the world have responded to platform-enabled foreign interference, threats against politicians, and campaigns of disinformation with policies to protect election integrity and democratic participation. However, government regulations and platforms’ own policies have provoked concerns that they may undermine freedom of expression or election fairness. What’s the global state of play with regard to social media and freedom of speech in elections in the midst of the 2024 election cycle? Join us in person at SSRC …

2024 APN and Next Gen African University Seminar Series, September 18 – September 19, 2024

Machakos County, Kenya The African Peacebuilding Network (APN) and Next Generation Social Sciences in Africa (Next Gen) program of the Social Science Research Council (SSRC), in partnership with the Peace and Development Researchers Association (PADRA), held the African University Seminar Series, Kenya (AUSS-K) at Machakos University Hotel and Conference Centre in Machakos County, Kenya. PADRA, which is the off-shoot of AUSS-K, is composed of current and former Kenyan SSRC’s APN and Next Gen scholars and supported by the APN and Next Gen Program and organized by the Local Organizing Committee (LOC). The seminar was held, in partnership with the School …

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