TOME grant funds available for Penn State open access monographs
Penn State is among the first universities to commit funds to an initiative designed to support the peer-reviewed, open access monographs known as Toward Open Monograph Ecosystem (TOME).
Launched in 2017, TOME is a higher education initiative that provides publishing grants of up to $15,…
Ashton Verdery featured on Methodology Center podcast
Methodology Minutes, the new Methodology Center podcasts, provides updates on the Center’s methods, applications, and events. The 15 to 30 minute podcasts feature assistant professors, the Center’s Directors, research associates and more. They cover secondary data analysis, issues with collecting…
SSRI Annual Report now available
The Social Science Research Institute’s 2017-2018 Annual Report contains an overview the Institute’s research units and activities and includes the announcement of two new initiatives, the Integrated Data Systems Consortium and the Consortium to Combat Substance Abuse.
Additionally, the report…
Seed funding available to combat substance abuse
Penn State’s Consortium to Combat Substance Abuse (CCSA) is seeking to support interdisciplinary teams of Penn State researchers whose work is aimed at combating opioid and other substance abuse.
CCSA Interim Director Stephanie Lanza, professor of biobehavioral health and director of the Edna…
Mood of the Nation Poll examines empathy, or lack thereof, between parties
In the years since the 2016 election, countless news stories and public opinion polls have sought to answer the question of what divides Republicans and Democrats.
Results from the latest Penn State Mood of the Nation Poll show that not only do people with opposing political beliefs fundamentally…
Regular bedtimes and sufficient sleep for children may lead to healthier teens
Having a regular, age-appropriate bedtime and getting sufficient sleep from early childhood may be important for healthy body weight in adolescence, according to researchers at Penn State.
The researchers identified groups of children by bedtime and sleep routines and tested longitudinal…
Sexual risk assessment tool in the child welfare system developed
Children in the welfare system are particularly vulnerable to commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) according to a 2013 U.S. House of Representatives Ways and Means hearing, but few practical screening tools currently exist to identify victims and those at risk for sexual exploitation,…
'Ask the Experts' addresses the opioid epidemic on cesarean sections
The latest episode in the “Ask the Experts” series features Danielle Symons Downs, professor of kinesiology and obstetrics and gynecology, and associate director of the Social Science Research Institute at Penn State, discussing her research on the links between cesarean section…
Seed grants available in energy, environmental research
Penn State’s Energy and Environmental Sustainability Laboratories (EESL) announced a call for proposals for seed grant funding that will support energy and environmental research conducted in EESL facilities. The call is open to undergraduate and graduate students at any Penn State campus.
The…
Rural American families focus of 26th annual family symposium
The strategies needed to maintain family economic stability, health and general well-being of rural families was the focus of the 26th Annual National Symposium on Family Issues, held recently at the Nittany Lion Inn on Penn State’s University Park campus.
“The symposium brought together discussion…
A Systems Approach to Opioid Mitigation
Opioid and related substance abuse is devastating many communities across the country and has proven a particularly difficult problem to address. In this presentation, Griffin will discuss research being done at the Regenstrief Center for Healthcare Engineering at Purdue University to help mitigate…
25 Years of Service
Cheri McConnell, education coordinator with the Child Maltreatment Solutions Network, and Michael Rineer, manager of Network and Information Systems at SSRI, were recently awarded Penn State Mantel Clocks for their 25 years of service to the University.
For a complete listing of 25-Year Award…
Why Social Science? - Because Social Science Research and Education Are Critical for National Security
By Claudia Brugman, PhD, Research Scientist and Technical Director for Language in Social Systems, Center for Advanced Study of Language, University of Maryland
Each of the social sciences contributes irreplaceable content knowledge and methodologies to our collective understanding of other…
SSRI Fall Gathering 2018
Faculty and staff from all of SSRI's units recently gathered together at the Hintz Family Alumni Center to celebrate major accomplishments of the year and to announce staff awards.
The “Workplace Climate Promotion Award” was given to Renee Kotch from the Clearinghouse for Military Family Readiness…
Kindergarten predicts academic achievement across the primary grades
Identifying factors that predict academic difficulties during elementary school should help inform efforts to children who may be at risk. New Penn State research suggests that children’s executive functions may be a particularly important risk factor for such difficulties.
Preliminary findings…
New poll: Voters are just as angry as in 2016
By Eric Plutzer and Michael Berkman
Voters this fall aren’t just sharply polarized; they’re also very angry — whether they’re Democrats, Republicans or even independents.
In partnership with YouGov, Penn State’s McCourtney Institute of Democracy has been polling Americans to assess the overall mood…
Mobile technologies may help researchers crack the mysteries of aging
A National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant will allow Penn State’s Martin Sliwinski and team to learn more about how small changes in the brain can develop into neurological conditions later in life by developing new standardized mobile technologies for researchers across the U.S.
This type of…
Harvard professor to present De Jong Lecture in Social Demography Nov. 15
Penn State’s 13th Annual De Jong Lecture in Social Demography will be presented from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 15, at the Nittany Lion Inn on the University Park campus.
"The impact of workplace policies/practices and family composition: Can they explain inequalities in health,"…
Schmitt Russell Research Lecture to focus on health and education interventions
Linda Collins, director of the Methodology Center, will present the 2018 Pauline Schmitt Russell Research Lecture, "Bringing Health and Education Interventions into the 21st Century,” at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 7, in the Bennett Pierce Living Center on University Park campus.
The event…
Why is working memory so important to learning?
The National Science Foundation is spotlighting CEDR Director and PRI Affiliate Paul Morgan's recent research on working memory in their "Ask a Scientist" series.
A better way to evaluate health interventions
There’s a better way to evaluate the effectiveness of health interventions. It can help make health interventions not only effective, but scalable, affordable and less complex. When testing an intervention that is trying to modify health attitudes or behaviors — like a smoking cessation program —…
Fourth cycle of proposals sought for strategic initiative seed grant funding
Penn State community members, including faculty, staff and students, are invited to submit ideas for pilot projects that are aimed at supporting the University’s Strategic Plan to advance innovation, research, learning and engagement at the University and beyond. Proposals for the fourth cycle of…
Fall 2018 Scholarly Communications Workshops offered by University Libraries
This November, students, faculty and staff can participate in communications workshops that cover topics such as copyright, publishing, and National Science Foundation public access policy. The workshops, which will take place Nov. 1-15, are coordinated and led by Ana Enriquez, scholarly…
Sifting through 50 million phone calls for patterns to aid refugees
When refugees use their mobile phones they leave clues about how well they are integrating (or not) into their host country. Clio Andris, assistant professor of geography in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, is analyzing a year’s worth of phone calls to find the clues to help address the…
Family Symposium book series releases latest edition
The most recent volume in the Family Symposium book series is now available from Springer Publishing. “Families and Technology” focuses on the roles of parents in monitoring children’s screen time, of technology in relationship formation, and technology in changing family dynamics.
The book is…