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Dear SBE Colleagues and Friends,
Today, our families and our many diverse communities face important challenges. You are responding to these challenges through your work in many domains. We appreciate your generosity and your caring and we are grateful for your resilience, the kindness that you show and the hope that you express.
The social, behavioral and economic sciences (SBE) are more relevant than ever. Alongside our colleagues in medicine working on treatments for COVID-19, SBE scientists are helping us understand the human and social challenges that difficult times reveal. Recent events have challenged our communities to attain new levels of awareness about human and social interaction — an awareness that is informed and energized by your work.
At times like these we can be grateful for the many ways in which SBE researchers are working to improve the quality of life for people all over the world. At the same time, we acutely feel the need for community and greater interaction. It is with these feelings in mind that we are launching NSF's first quarterly newsletter from the SBE Directorate. As a member of our community — and everyone is welcome to join — we hope you'll enjoy reading about the work of SBE-supported researchers and find the announcements and other content useful. For example, over the next several months, we will be announcing a series of new initiatives to fund SBE research that addresses some of our nation’s greatest challenges. You can learn about those opportunities in subsequent editions of this newsletter. Of course, you can also unsubscribe at any time.
Many of the highlights in this newsletter are examples of the vast collective effort to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. NSF’s SBE Directorate has supported over 160 RAPID awards to study time-sensitive issues aimed at helping a wide range of people, communities and businesses. SBE can do this because so many of you are sending incredible proposals our way.
We are also living in a time of greater awareness of societal inequity. The grief and anger expressed through protests in our cities has brought a renewed focus on the role that we, as social and behavioral scientists, can play in understanding and improving our world. As one example of someone fulfilling that role, we invite you to listen to a recent NPR podcast featuring SBE-supported economist Dr. Lisa Cook and her discovery of how systemic racism has diminished technological innovation in the U.S.
We're proud to be part of the remarkable SBE community and to support your research, which our country needs more than ever. We have our work cut out for us.
Let's get to it.
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Kellina Craig-Henderson
NSF Deputy Assistant Director, SBE
Arthur Lupia
NSF Assistant Director, SBE
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The new guidance, intended for decision-makers at all levels, draws on research from communications, social psychology and behavioral economics.
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Researchers from the University of Cincinnati found toxic levels of pollution in four central reservoirs in Tikal, an ancient Maya city.
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NCAR scientists launch a research project into whether the public health impacts of extreme heat will be amplified by the COVID-19 pandemic.
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NYU researchers reveal a previously unknown connection between our daily physical environments and our sense of well-being.
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Opinions, findings or recommendations of NSF awardees or their institutions do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
Have an NSF-funded discovery or research highlight to share? Contact us.
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