Join the Center for Social Science Scholarship for a virtual social science coffee hour.

Bring your own beverage and stay connected with the social science community.

The Center for Social Science Scholarship invites applications for Faculty Working Groups to promote intellectual exchange in the social sciences and across campus. These collaborative scholarly learning communities will meet regularly to engage in such activities as: working on research projects, reading key literature, exploring new methodological approaches, and/or engaging in matters of public interest related to the social sciences, across campus, or with community partners.

Up to four Faculty Working Groups will be selected by the center director and advisory board members. Groups should be faculty-led and must include at least one faculty member from a social science department at UMBC. Additional priority will be given to groups whose members and/or areas of interest are multi- or interdisciplinary. Advanced graduate students may participate as Faculty Working Group members but may not serve as leaders.

Faculty Working Groups can apply for up to $1,000 in annual support ($500 per semester); groups will also be able to apply for continuation funding. Groups may use funds for such items as: supporting regular group meetings; purchasing software, books, or other materials; hosting external speakers; creating scholarly resources; traveling to external sites for research or public engagement purposes; and other similar activities. A brief report of the group’s activities will be due at the end of the funding period.

Apply by May 31, 2021, for groups to begin in Fall 2021.

Click here to download the application form.

Applications should be submitted via email to socialscience@umbc.edu. Questions may be directed to Christine Mallinson, Director of the Center for Social Science Scholarship.

Join Zoom Meeting:  https://zoom.us/j/94605085198

Meeting ID: 946 0508 5198

Passcode: ANNXr8

40 @ 4 Webinar Series

UMBC’s Erickson School of Aging invites you to its first of two webinars in the Longevity Economy. The 40 @ 4 is designed for busy individuals by packing a 40-minute webinar with innovative material designed to expand your awareness of growing opportunities in the competitive longevity economy market.

March 31st, 4 p.m. ET

40 @ 4 Webinar Series

The Global Longevity Economy: In 2021 Creativity Counts

An international take discussion on the expanding longevity economy. In this 40 @ 4 webinar, our speakers will discuss the opportunities, innovations, and entertain solutions for healthy longevity in our aging global world.

Speakers:  

Jon Warner, Ph.D., CEO, Silver Moonshots

Joo Hyung Han, Ph.D., CEO, 50 + Korea

Moderated by: 

Brittany Weinberg, MBA, MSG, Founder & CEO, BW Global Consulting, LLC

Questions for our panelists? Submit them today. You will also have the opportunity to ask questions during the webinar on March 31st.

Mark your calendars for the second installment of the Spring 2021 40 @ 4 Webinar Series, May 5th, at 4p.m. focusing on entrepreneurship in the longevity economy and older adults.

The Erickson School is thankful to the American Institute of Financial Gerontology (AIFG) for its sponsorship of the Spring 2021 40 @ 4 Webinar Series. For nearly two decades, AIFG has provided innovative curriculum to financial and non-financial professionals. 

A new framework for articulating broader impacts in research proposals is now available from the U.S. National Science Foundation’s Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences.

NSF's existing criteria for evaluating research proposals through both intellectual merit and broader impacts remain unchanged. The new framework offers guidance on how researchers can better articulate the potential impacts of their proposed research and how those impacts can lead to benefits for society, including improved quality of life. The framework includes questions for researchers to consider when developing the broader impacts of their research and suggestions on how to explain them.

“By effectively describing a project's potential broader impacts, researchers can help others understand the relevance of that research to their lives,” says Arthur Lupia, head of NSF’s Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences. “As more researchers do this, more people in the U.S. will understand the tremendous and irreplaceable public value of fundamental research in the social, behavioral and economic sciences.”

To read the framework, see Dear Colleague Letter: A Broader Impacts Framework for Proposals Submitted to NSF's Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences Directorate.

The AERA-NSF Grants Program is currently accepting proposals for both its Dissertation and Research Grants. With support from the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Program provides dissertation grants to graduate students and small research grants to doctoral level scholars using large-scale data sets in their research.

The AERA-NSF Grants Program emphasizes the advanced statistical analysis of data sets from the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics, NSF, and other federal agencies. The program also supports studies using large-scale international data systems (e.g., PISA, PIRLS, or TIMMS) that benefit from U.S. federal government support. In addition, statewide longitudinal administrative data systems enhanced through federal grants are also eligible for consideration. Proposals are encouraged from a variety of disciplines, such as, but not limited to, education, sociology, economics, psychology, demography, statistics, and psychometrics.

AERA Dissertation Grants. AERA provides dissertation support for advanced doctoral students to undertake doctoral dissertations using data from large-scale data sets. The award provides professional development, training, and networking opportunities for students. The selection process is competitive. AERA-NSF Dissertation Grants are awarded for one-year for an amount of up to $25,000.

AERA Research Grants. AERA provides small grants for faculty members, postdoctoral researchers, and other doctoral-level scholars to undertake quantitative research using data from large-scale data sets. The selection process is competitive. AERA-NSF Research Grants are awarded for one or two years, for an amount of up to $35,000.

The next proposal deadline is Wednesday, May 12, 2021 (11:59PM PT). Please the AERA-NSF Grants Program via email (grantsprogram@aera.net) or phone (202-238-3200) if you have any questions regarding the program.

Cradle to Kindergarten: A New Plan to Combat Inequality

Wednesday, March 17, 2021; 5:30 to 7 p.m. (ET)

Inequality in early experiences and education have impacts on long-term socioeconomic success. How can early childhood policies help? The Russell Sage Foundation and the School of Public Affairs at American University will host a discussion featuring co-authors Taryn Morrissey (American University), Ajay Chaudry (New York University), and Christina Weiland (University of Michigan), joined by Miriam Calderon (Oregon's Early Learning Division) and Melissa Boteach (National Women's Law Center), to talk about the second edition of their RSF book Cradle to Kindergarten: A New Plan to Combat Inequality. The book presents research on how inequality in early opportunity has life-long consequences and offers an evidence-based approach to expanding access to affordable, high-quality early care and education to all children.

The discussion will be moderated by Ruth Marcus, Washington Post columnist and 2019 Sine Institute Fellow.

U.S. Representative Bobby Scott (D-VA), Chair of the House Committee on Labor & Education, will offer remarks before the discussion.

This event is co-hosted by the Russell Sage Foundation, the nation's oldest foundation dedicated exclusively to research in the social sciences, and by the School of Public Affairs (SPA) at American University, which has been a hub for policy-related research and teaching for 85 years.

Read more about the book and purchase a copy.