Public and private funding organizations, state legislatures, and donors increasingly expect universities to produce socially impactful and policy-relevant research. However, publication and promotion incentives may undermine efforts to mobilize the social and behavioral science research community to pursue policy-relevant research. This virtual convening is an opportunity for member institutions of the College and University Fund for the Social Sciences (CUF) to share what works–and what doesn’t–to mobilize social and behavioral science that is both policy-relevant and scientifically rigorous. At this convening we’ll hear from Arthur Lupia (University of Michigan’s Bold Challenges Initiative) and Jeremy Weinstein (Stanford Impact Labs), and then we’ll open the meeting up for discussion and questions.
This virtual convening is an opportunity for cross-institutional learning and networking across the member institutions of the College and University Fund for the Social Sciences. Registration is only open to individuals associated with one of the current member institutions. To register, please indicate your institutional affiliation. For more information about this event or to learn more about the College and University Fund for the Social Sciences, please contact us at CUF@ssrc.org.
Speakers
Arthur Lupia, University of Michigan
Arthur Lupia is Gerald R. Ford Distinguished University Professor of Political Science and executive director of the Bold Challenges Initiative at the University of Michigan. Professor Lupia’s research examines how information and institutions affect policy and politics. He studies how people make decisions when they lack information and has applied these insights to topics such as voting and elections, civic competence, legislative-bureaucratic relations, parliamentary governance, and the role of the media and the internet in politics. He draws from multiple scientific and philosophical disciplines and he integrates many research methods. Professor Lupia served as an Assistant Director of the National Science Foundation from 2018-2022. In that role, he led NSF's Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences Directorate. From 2019-2021, he served as co-chair of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy's Subcommittee on Open Science, and has held many other scientific leadership positions.
Jeremy Weinstein, Stanford University
Jeremy Weinstein is Professor of Political Science and Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies and the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research at Stanford University, and the faculty director of Stanford Impact Labs. Dr. Weinstein created Stanford Impact Labs to catalyze new partnerships between leading researchers and expert practitioners with the goal of generating innovative policies, programs, and interventions to meaningfully address important social problems. Professor Weinstein is also faculty co-director of the Immigration Policy Lab and the Data for Development Initiative. He is an award-winning researcher and teacher, with expertise on civil wars and political violence; the political economy of development; democracy and accountability; and migration. Between 2013 and 2015, Professor Weinstein served as the deputy to the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and before that as the chief of staff at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations.
